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THE CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDS. 
Aug., 1892. 
stones and bare rocks, where they vegetate among ferns and 
other shade-loving plants in countless thousands. The know¬ 
ledge of orcliidaceae has grown during the last fifty years at a 
rate quite out of proportion to that of the rest of the vegetable 
kingdom. Linnaeus only knew about a dozen exotic orchids, 
and stated his opinion that the world, when fully examined, 
might probably yield as many as a hundred species. 
Now at least 2,500 are known to English horticulturists, 
while the number of species in the order is estimated at 
6 , 000 . 
When orchids were first imported into this country from 
tropical and subtropical regions, an idea that they all required 
excessive heat to grow them appears to have been taught and 
accepted by all horticulturists. To the earlier orchid growers 
it would appear to have been of but little moment where the 
plant came from, or under what conditions it grew in its 
native habitat. They might come from the humid valleys of 
the Indian Archipelago, the dry regions of South or Western 
Africa, the mountain chains of Mexico or Peru, or even the 
snow line of the Andes, but their treatment was the same, 
and they were placed in the hottest temperature at 
command; and even now the highest temperature often 
means the driest, and this was specially so under the old flue 
system of heating. Under these adverse conditions we can 
hardly wonder that many of the newly-imported orchids died 
in a few months after their introduction—now and then, 
however, they produced a few flowers, often the last effort of 
expiring nature, and not properly developed ; still the 
delicate colours and fragrance soon began to be spoken of 
from time to time, as they flowered in the early collections. 
Although a larger proportion of the first or early specimens 
might now be considered but poor plants, still they attracted 
the attention of nearly every one interested in plants at the 
time, including the Duke of Devonshire and the celebrated 
Mrs. Lawrence, after whom many are named, and they have 
rapidly risen in the estimation of horticulturists and the 
general public ever since. Those who invest in orchids 
judiciously, and use a little common sense to grow them, will 
receive good interest for their trouble, for most of them are 
not difficult to grow, not more so than the ordinary 
geranium, and in most cases the plants will increase in size 
and value, while a real and lasting pleasure will attend the 
mind capable of contemplating these living wonders, and 
amply repay any slight outlay on these the most beautiful of 
all plants. I do not wish to be understood as implying that 
orchids alone are worthy of culture ; on the contrary, I agree 
