664 



PITCH-PINE BASKETS FOR ORCHIDS. 



odor, that increases as the night goes on. The flowers 

 change their attitude, the petals being drawn back- 

 wards until the blossoms become white six-pointed 

 stars, that catch the moonlight and seem to retain it in 

 their hearts. The plant has an alert, wide-awake look, 

 very different from its dejected air in the daytime. At 

 night the plants form deep shadows, pointed and mys- 

 terious, from which the glistening flowers stand forth 



conspicuously and invite us to a closer acquaintance 

 with their best estate. It is, after all, a mere figure of 

 speech to speak of the sleep of the garden. Nature no 

 sooner puts one set of plants to sleep than she super- 

 vises the labors and frolics of another. Night is full 

 of life, as intense and as beautiful as that of the day, 

 but not so fully appreciated by nature lovers. 



John DeWolf, 



PITCH-PINE BASKETS FOR ORCHIDS. 



THE USE of baskets of pitch-pine is con- 

 stantly growing more common among 

 our cultivators. These baskets have 

 long taken the place of pots for very 

 many of the orchids, which, being by 

 nature epiphytes, grow reluctantly in pots in which 

 their roots are confined and are unable to reach the 

 air. 



For plants which are to be hung up nothing can equal 

 the elegance of these prettily shaped baskets 

 which have taken the place, in our green 

 houses, of the old-fashioned pots, which were 

 generally covered by an ugly growth of algae 

 and mosses. 



The pine baskets are used in great num- 

 bers by the orchid fanciers. The simplest 

 and most useful form is the simple square 

 basket, used for dendrobium, cattleya, laelia, 

 trichopilia, most of the oncidiums, etc. 



A similar basket, but of twice the height, is 

 especially suitable for the Indian orchids, 

 such as aerides, saccolabium, vanda and an- 

 graecum. For phalaenopsis, the high tubular 

 or cylindrical form is the best. 



Those who are willing to incur a little extra 

 expense cannot do better than select the octa- 

 gonal forms, single and double, which are 

 admirably adapted to all orchids, but especially 

 to the strong plants called specimens. 



For stanhopea and acineta a special basket 

 is made, round in form, with a bottom of 

 copper wire, through which the subterranean 

 flowers can find ready egress. 



The hamper and log forms may be used to 

 advantage instead of the heavy top and pieces 

 of bark on which the Brazilian cattleyas, lae- 

 lias and oncidiums of spreading form are 

 grown. 



They are simply filled with a light fibrous 

 soil, to which the plants are firmly attached 

 by copper wires. The hopper and manger 

 forms are especially useful for the decoration 

 of walls. They should be filled with ornamental foliage 

 plants of trailing habit. The pot, cup and conical 

 forms are less to be recommended, as they render the 



NOTES TRANSLATED FROM " LE JARDIN." 



arrangement and cultivation of the plants more diffi- 

 cult. These pine-baskets are admirably adapted to the 

 culture of bromeliaceae of small size, and many of the 

 ferns, such as adiantum, davallia, certain polypodiums, 

 selaginellas, etc. They should be suspended, of course, 

 and will thus form a pleasing addition to the green- 

 house, the upper part of which is too often bare of 

 vegetation. 



All these baskets may be made at home, but if regard 



Fig. 3 7-F"oliolate Leaf. I^See page 66j.) 



is had to beauty, strength and cheapness, it will proba- 

 bly be found better to buy them ready made. We have 

 tried various makes, and prefer those of Aufroy, of Au- 



