230 



AN AMATEUR'S COLLECTION. 



I HAVE always had a very keen interest in 

 Orchids, so much so that they seem to be 

 essential to my existence ; indeed, they 

 fascinate me. If the reader is an enthusiast 

 he can better imagine than I can describe how 

 pleased I was when my first plants were 

 obtained from a saleroom in Birmingham. I 

 only managed to keep one of them alive — 

 Coelogyne cnstata, and through not under- 

 standing much about the requirements of 

 Orchids I failed to flower it for several years, 

 but it lived and I was at last rewarded with a 

 display of its beautiful snow-white blooms. 



I would take the reader into my green- 

 house, which a very valued friend has dubbed 

 " Noah's Ark," where he will find considerably 

 over 1 80 varieties from all sections — cool, 

 intermediate and warm, the first-named, of 

 course, being near the door, and the last 

 nearest the stove, with the intermediate 

 section in the middle. Some are good-sized 

 specimens, but the major portion are pieces 

 with one lead. I would tell him that I am 

 able to grow them all in one house, because I 

 look after the individual requirements of each 

 plant, moving them to what I deem to be the 

 most suitable positions, etc., never watering 

 them when they do not need it, always 

 striving to keep the compost just moist when 

 the plants are growing, ever keeping a very 

 sharp look out for insect pests, thrip, in 

 particular, in my case, and taking effective as 

 well as drastic measures if necessary to 

 combat them. 



I am the proud possessor of six tiny Laelio- 

 Cattleya seedlings of my own raising, and 

 have many hundreds of seeds germinating. 

 Of course, raising from seed is a long business, 

 and only those who have succeeded can fully 

 appreciate the interest evinced by the raiser 

 when a seedling is about to unfold its petals 

 for the first time. Some day I hope to have 

 the pleasure of seeing a seedling of my own 

 raising on an exhibition stand. 



At one time I did not believe in shading to 

 any very great extent, but am now converted, 

 as the following will show : Returning home 

 one evening I noticed many of my plants 



[September, iqi6. 



looking very flimsy, some of the leaves being 

 quite discoloured and even shrivelled — and 

 the reason? Burnt, absolutely scorched up 

 by the fierce rays of the sun, due to an exceed- 

 ingly bright afternoon following a very dull 

 cold morning. I, of course, had left off the 

 shading on account of the conditions earlier 

 in the day. As a result I had to cut off 

 entirely some fifteen leaves and one or two 

 growths. 



My greenhouse is a wooden-sided structure, 

 lean-to, facing west-north-west, and is heated 

 by means of a Meet All Coke Stove, fixed 

 inside. 



I trust these few remarks will show that it is 

 possible to grow Orchids in houses which have 

 not been built specially for them, and without 

 expensive heating systems, and so further their 

 more extensive cultivation by amateurs. — 

 H . Lakin. 



As proof of Mr. Lakin's well-merited 

 success, we have received a series of photo- 

 graphs, showing respectively Laelia lona, with 

 two flowers ; Laelio-Cattleya callistoglossa, 

 with two spikes, each carrying three large and 

 well-developed flowers ; Cattleya Loddigesii, 

 a fine variety with broad labellum; Stanhopea 

 oculata, with a five-flowered pendulous spike ; 

 Cypripedium bellatulum ; a pleasing Cypri- 

 pedium hybrid ; and the elegant Dendrobium 

 Phalaenopsis Schroderianum. All the plants 

 possess a vigorous constitution. 



Phalainopsis intermedia. 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



