20 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 11. 
pany them to their benefit through life. There are 
many things that will now have finished their growth 
and plumped their buds that will not require this at¬ 
tention during the coming winter; hut then, if pos¬ 
sible, they should never he prominently introduced 
to notice in the sitting-room. By following the above 
simple method, I have seen plants kept in beautiful 
health, not for a month or two, hut during the entire 
season, in smoky London ; but then the girleens who 
had the charge of them loved their protegees, were 
always learning their nature, understood at a glance 
what they wanted, were liberal in sprinkling and rub¬ 
bing the foliage when no water was wanted at the 
root, and in general did all this in the gossiping 
twilight hour, when scarcely anything else could be 
done. Worthy to be called relations these of the 
Aunt Harriet so immortalised in these pages! Would 
such tastes unfit them for the sterner duties of rear¬ 
ing little human plants, on which duties they have 
now entered ? Would they be less capable of engag¬ 
ing in the “ delightful task, to rear the tender thought 
—to teach the young idea how to shoot,” &c. ? Would 
you imitate their success ? Then follow their ex¬ 
ample. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHID ACEiE. 
Routine Culture for October. —The days are 
now shortening fast, and the orchids will soon feel 
the want of light. 
Water .—Great care is requisite now in the appli¬ 
cation of water, and of moisture in the air. Many of 
the Dendrohice ought by this time to have made their 
full growth; from such withhold water nearly alto¬ 
gether, and lessen the heat at the same time. Place 
them in the cool house (see next week’s number) ; 
this will consolidate or ripen the pseudo-bulbs, and 
cause them to produce flowers abundantly. Any 
other tribes should be treated in a similar manner if 
their growth for this year is perfected. There will 
lie, however, several that are still growing. To these 
supply a moderate portion of water, much less than 
during the summer months. Apply it to the compost 
in pots or baskets by means of a small spouted wa¬ 
tering pot, without wetting the leaves or any part of 
the plants. 
Those on logs should have a sprinkling of water 
on all fine mornings when there is any prospect of 
sunshine. On dull, wet days omit the syringing 
altogether; also on all days avoid, at this dull season 
of the year, the use of the syringe in the evening. 
We have seen many a healthy promising young 
shoot damped off by a too abundant application of 
water in the evening. There ought to be a degree of 
moisture in the air of the house where plants are 
growing at all times of the year, but that moisture 
ought to be considerably lessened in the autumn and 
winter months. The walls and walks may now be 
moistened only in the morning, unless, on rare occa¬ 
sions, when the sun shines clearly and brightly all 
the day. When that happens apply water to the 
walls, &c., early in the afternoon. 
Shade may now he dispensed with entirely. The 
creepers, if any, should be shortened in very much, 
to allow the plants as much light as possible. They 
need it all now. 
Air and Heat .—Whenever the temperature of the 
house rises to 70°, admit air to reduce it to 05°. Let 
this be the standard heat during the day to aim at 
until the end of the month. The night heat should 
not exceed 60° nor fall below 55°. If the last thing 
at night the house is left at the maximum heat, and 
in the morning it is found at the minimum heat, it 
will he quite correct. The grower may rest satisfied 
his plants are comfortable. 
Potting .—We have often been asked the question, 
“ When is the proper time to pot orchids, or to basket 
or fresh log them?” Our answer was, “ Generally 
speaking the months of January, February, and 
March, are the proper times, but as there is no rule 
without exceptions, some orchids require potting at 
all seasons of the year. The beginner may know 
when to pot his ]ilants by this observation :—If they 
are determined to grow, even now they must be pot¬ 
ted. The only precaution necessaiy to observe will 
be to use the stuff you pot them in (for it can hardly 
be called soil) in a moderately dry state, and give no 
water excepting a sprinkling to settle the compost. 
The operation of potting an orchid we shall de¬ 
scribe, because many of our readers will not know 
how to perform it correctly. In the first place, have 
ready a quantity of broken pots or potsherds of seve¬ 
ral sizes; next, procure some good turfy peat, knock 
it into pieces with a heavy hammer, crushing the 
finer soil entirely out of it; then pass it through a 
fine sieve, and what remains in the sieve is the best 
stuff for orchids ; it is light, open, and porous. Next, 
have some charcoal at hand broken into pieces no 
larger than a hen’s egg, nor smaller than a hazel nut. 
Another article, and you will have all you need for 
pots and baskets: this is white bog moss or sphag¬ 
num, which should he partially chopped with a sharp 
hatchet, and the dust also sifted out of it. We have 
a great abhorrence for anything close or fine about 
orchids, excepting terrestrial ones. We will here ex 
plain that terrestrial orchids are those growing on 
the earth, whilst epiphytal orchids, or epiphytes, are 
those growing upon trees or logs of wood. 
Having all in readiness, take your plant, turn it 
out of the pot carefully, be mindful of the roots, and 
bruise or injure them as little as possible. Perhaps 
some roots will he found adhering very firmly to the 
sides of the pot; to part them from which we have 
used a long thin-bladea knife, thrusting it carefully 
down between the root and the pot. In very bad 
cases we have found it necessary to break the pot, 
but this must be done very gently, or the very act of 
breaking may destroy the roots. The plant being 
cleared from the pot, shake away all the old com¬ 
post ; then examine the roots closely, and cut off all 
the dead ones. This is a convenient opportunity 
also to look after insects, especially the white scale, 
the most pernicious of all vermin to orchids (except¬ 
ing, perhaps, the black thrip). With a brush clean 
them all off, and wash the whole plant with strong 
soap water. Your plant is now ready for potting. 
Choose a pot of the proper size; generally speaking 
orchids, to grow them well, take larger pots in pro¬ 
portion to their size than any other class of plants. 
Let your pots be perfectly clean both inside and out. 
Lay a large piece of potsherd over the hole at the 
bottom of the pot; then place some rather smaller 
pieces of the same, and over these the smallest ones. 
Altogether the pot ought to be three parts filled witli 
this drainage. This point is of the utmost import¬ 
ance, for if the plants are not superlatively well 
drained they will not thrive long or satisfactorily. 
Over this drainage j’Hce a thin layer of charcoal, 
and then a layer of the turfy peat, mixing with it 
some broken pots and charcoal. Introduce the plant 
now, and spread the roots, if many, all over the sur¬ 
face of the compost, working it amongst them, gra- 
