328 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
of good, coming as they do from high altitudes, where fresh air 
is constant and pure both day and night. As evidence of the 
hardiness of this Orchid, during the severe winter of 1894 I 
remember on several occasions finding in the early morning 
1 deg. and 2 deg. of frost in the house, the soil in the pots quite 
crusted over, and the young growths black and drooping; but a 
sprinkling of cold water from a fine rose-can or syringe soon 
restored the plants to their proper colour and firmness, care 
being also taken not to let the sun shine on them for several 
days. The boiler that was working the houses then was a little 
beneath its work, consequently the Disa house only got a small 
share of heat. But in that same year there were over forty spikes 
of bloom, and some of the spikes had seven, eight, and. nine 
flowers upon them, proving that the low temperature did not 
affect them in the least. 
Many times from December to February the house opens at 
35 deg. Some growers are quite alarmed if the thermometer 
falls below 48 deg, at night. But I am told that on the Table 
Mountain frost is very prevalent, and I have found out from 
experience that a little will not do them any harm, providing 
the rhizome does not get frozen through, as it is of a fleshy 
nature, and would soon perish. 
Treatment when in Bloom. 
The usual time for Disas to flower is in June and July. I 
have had them out by the first week of the latter month; and 
exhibited them at our local show the last day in August by 
keeping them shaded from the sun, and in as cool a place as 
possible. 
This shows what a most useful Orchid it is, as it lasts so 
long, and comes into bloom at a time of the year when most of the 
Orchidaceous plants are over, and are making their new pseudo¬ 
bulbs for another season’s work. 
If arranged with such things as Eulalias, Cyperus natalensis, 
and Ferns, some on the staging and others elevated on pots, the 
effect, when they are in bloom, is most lovely; and when a whole 
group is seen in this way, it is a sight not easily forgotten. When 
fully expanded they require keeping a little drier, both at the 
roots and in the atmosphere ; but when the flowers are in the 
bud state a slight spraying over once a day is most beneficial to 
