182 
THE CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDS. 
Aug., 1892. 
of sufficient length to reach the nectar at the lower part of the 
spur. This was not quite believed at the time, but since 
then a moth has been found in Brazil with a proboscis 
over ten inches long. The other remarkable point in the 
flower of an orchid is the column. In most blossoms the 
stamens and pistils are separate organs, but in the orchid 
these are consolidated into a central, waxy, often club-shaped 
body, which is known by this name. The mimicry in orchids 
is very peculiar, many of our British orchids possess flowers 
which are very suggestive of insects, as the fly, bee, and 
spider, others again resemble animals as the frog, monkey, and 
lizard orchids. Amongst the exotic orchids the mimicry is 
still more striking, as in the Dove plant or Holy Ghost flower 
of the Spaniards, Peristeria data , which viewed in front is 
much like a dove about to alight. The celebrated butterfly 
orchid, Oncidium Papilio, is very remarkable, and its 
extraordinary flowers are said to have attracted the Duke 
of Devonshire’s attention so strongly at one of the London 
Horticultural Society’s meetings many years ago, that it 
induced him to give his attention to orchids, and led to the 
formation of the noted Chatsworth collection, one of the finest, 
if not the finest, in the country. 
CULTURE. 
All those who contemplate commencing orchid growing 
should begin with the free-growing, profuse-blooming species, 
and if these succeed and give satisfaction, which they cer¬ 
tainly will do if rationally treated, the newer and rarer kinds 
may be added as opportunities present themselves. The first 
commencement of nearly every orchid collection is but a 
series of trials and experiments, and it is always best to 
experiment with the commoner plants, rather than with the 
rarer and consequently more valuable species. Many people 
have a fancy for purchasing newly-imported plants, and this 
can be done most weeks at the auction rooms of Protheroe and 
Morris, Clieapside, and Stevens, King Street, Covent Garden. 
In.fact, my collection, which now numbers about 700, is, 
with few exceptions, from imported pieces. It is as well, 
however, to inform you that you will have to compete with 
the various nurserymen or their orchid growers, men who 
have in the majority of cases an extensive knowledge and 
well matured experience of the plants they wish to buy. There 
are always many additional attractions about imported and 
unbloomed plants, and a keen pleasure in watching their 
buds slowly expand, perhaps for the first time in Europe; 
added to this there is always a possibility of obtaining some 
new or rare species or varieties amongst them. But, as I 
