HOW TO POPULARISE ORCHID-GROWING. 



105 



find where Orchids are so evidently unhappy — it may be from too 

 much heat or too little moisture in the air — that I think those 

 who will not see they are doing wrong may fairly be called 

 blind. It is to such, and to those who have not yet attempted 

 Orchid-growing, that I address myself, hoping that I may show 

 them something of interest to-day. As in everything else, I 

 take it the first thing is observation ; use your eyes properly, and 

 you will soon see whether a plant looks ill or well, and this in 

 Orchids is especially the case. A few days will often show you 

 if a new plant is happy in its strange home. On the other hand, 

 Orchids generally are the most long-suffering plants, and will 

 take years before they actually die from ill-usage, so that there 

 is time for a beginner to learn, and to experiment in all kinds of 

 treatment. 



We cannot, I think, hope to popularise Orchid-growing until 

 a fair idea of their modest needs is more common and widespread 

 than it has been hitherto. This is, I think, the first point to be 

 insisted on. 



The next and still more important point is to show that it i& 

 not necessary to have all manner of Orchid-houses before a man 

 embarks in Orchid-growing ; but, on the contrary, that a single 

 house and a cold frame are all that are absolutely necessary for 

 anyone who wishes to add a grace to the ordinary run of green- 

 house plants. 



I must confess that it would be a great boon to the struggling 

 amateur if the great nurserymen and importers could see their 

 way to telling us briefly, when announcing an importation of 

 new Orchids, whether these plants have been torn from tree-tops 

 or whether they come from the crannies in the rocks ; whether 

 they come from the breezy hill-tops or from the steamy valleys ; 

 and it would indeed be satisfactory to know if they came from a 

 dry or a wet climate, though, broadly speaking, of course we ex- 

 pect Orchids to have come from a damp climate. We all should 

 benefit greatly by such knowledge, because when a man finds 

 his plants thriving he is much more likely to buy more and in- 

 crease his collection than the man whose ignorance has made 

 him half kill the plants under his care. An evil that would, I 

 hope, be prevented, or at least greatly lessened, by proper infor- 

 mation is the waste — I could almost say "wicked waste" — 

 caused by tearing away these lovely creations from their native 



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