100 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Novemrer 22. 
cultivators to go to that expense. In various parts 
of the country there is plenty of peat, though not ex¬ 
actly so good as the Exeter kind, which, with a little 
labour, lirst, in choosing the nearest like to it, and 
secondly, in manufacturing it, if we may be allowed 
the term, that the kind so chosen may he made still 
nearer to approach the best in its consistency. There¬ 
fore, wo need not despair growing orchids in pots 
well and efficiently in peat from any neighbouring 
moor or common. Choose a very fibrous peat: this 
will generally be found close to the surface, and not 
more than from one to two inches thick. Reject all 
turves that are composed chiefly of soil, at least for 
this purpose, though such are of the best quality, if 
mixed with white sand, for Cape Heaths and New 
Holland plants, or even for American plants; so 
that in procuring the hest soil for the last-mentioned 
plant the cultivator will have a good opportunity to 
select the best turves for his orcliideae. Having met 
with some that answers nearest to our description of 
the kind at Exeter, let it he kept in a shed till it is 
tolerably dry; then chop or break it into pieces the 
size of a man’s fist, and with a broad-headed hammer 
beat it till the fine soil and the fibre separate; sift 
it through aline sieve, and it will appear of a rough, 
light, and open texture. If, on experience, you find 
it still runs together again and forms a close mass, 
retentive of moisture, then mix with it broken pot¬ 
sherds and small chips of oak or ash, or even willow. 
These will keep it open, and let the water pass 
through. 
Orchids for Pots. —The operation of potting we 
have sufficiently described in the 54th Number, 
page 20, and to that place we refer our readers. 
When we give the list we promised as the 5th head 
of orchid culture, we shall divide it into those that 
grow in pots, in baskets, and on blocks. In this 
place it will be sufficient to state, that of Bletias, 
Brassias, Calanthes, Cattlcyas, Cirrhoeas, Cyenochos, 
Cymbidiums, Cypripediums, Cyrtopodiums, Dendro- 
biums, Epidendrums, Houlletias, Lycastes, Maxil- 
larias, Miltonias, Odontoglossums, Oncidiums, Peris- 
terias, Phaias, Sobralias, Warreas, and Zygopetalums, 
the greatest number will thrive best, or at least as 
well, in pots, as by any other method. There are 
some exceptions which we shall note presently. 
Orchids in Baskets. —A considerable number of 
species require baskets, because the flower-stems are 
pendant, and, consequently, naturally require a po¬ 
sition to allow the flowers to grow down. In fact, 
some send the flower-stems perpendicularly down 
through the soil or compost. Now, if these are 
grown in pots, the flower-stems run down into the 
soil and there perish. It is true, they have been 
grown in pots on a hillock built iq> six inches 
or a foot above tho rim of the pot, and then part of 
the flower-stems manage to find their way to the out¬ 
side of the little mound, but a considerable number 
descend straight downwards, and soon rot for want 
of air and light. By growing them in baskets, this 
evil is prevented, and every raceme (bunch) of flowers 
arrives at perfection. This way of producing flowers 
—-just the reverse of all others—peculiarly show's 
that these highly curious and magnificent flowers 
must grow on branches of trees, or it would seem 
that nature had done something in vain by creating 
flowers that, did they grow on the earth, would 
mostly perish without over being seen. But, con¬ 
ceive them growing on the forked branches of trees, 
or the clefts of rocks, tho whole plant being on the 
outside; and we then perceive that tho mode of 
flowering is not so preposterous as it would be were 
these strange plants terrestrial, for the flower-stems 
easily find their way round the branch of a tree, or 
down the sides of a naked rock. We may conve¬ 
niently divide basket plants into two classes; first, 
those that require peat or compost; and secondly, 
those that require sphagnum or bog-moss. The first 
class contains the larger number. As we do not 
intend to anticipate the catalogue of the best or¬ 
chids intended to form the 5th part of this essay, 
we shall only here just mention the genera that re¬ 
quire peat and baskets. They are Stanhopeas, which 
we name first because of the great number in the 
genus, and because their mode of florescense pecu¬ 
liarly points them as requiring this method of grow¬ 
ing ; Acinetas, Acroperas, some Dendrobiums , Gan¬ 
goras, and Laccenas. 
Tho baskets should be of a size suitable for the 
plants—small ones requiring only small baskets, 
middling ones the middle-sized, and large ones in 
proportion. The way to basket the plants is this. 
Have the peat or compost prepared exactly as for 
potting above mentioned; cover the bottom of the 
basket with a thin layer of moss—green would do, 
though we prefer white or sphagnum. This moss 
is to prevent the peat from dropping through the 
openings between tho rods forming the bottom. 
Then place a portion of peat upon the moss. In 
the next place prepare the plant by taking it out 
of the old basket or pot, or perhaps off from a log. 
Do this as carefully as possible without injuring 
the living roots. If the old peat, in which it has 
been growing perhaps for years, is very hard, and 
the living roots are so firmly attached to it that they 
cannot be detached without breaking them, take the 
plant and put it into the cistern, and let it remain 
there till the peat is thoroughly soaked. Take it out, 
and set it in some convenient place to drain off the 
water. If this is done a full week before you intend 
to rebasket the plant, it will be all the easier to do, 
the object being to soften the peat so as to be able 
to pick off with a small-pointed stick as much of the 
old peat as possible. Examine also the pseudo-bulbs 
and leaves, and clean them thoroughly from dirt and 
insects. Prune away all dead roots, and then the 
plant will be ready to be put into its new habitation. 
Place it in the middle of the basket, and fill in all 
round it with the new compost. Set the basket then 
on the floor, and, with the syringe held pretty close 
to the peat, give it a good watering, forcing the water 
out of the syringe pretty strongly : this will be found 
to make the compost firm, so that future waterings 
will not wash it off the basket on to the floor, or 
plants underneath. One thing we would especially 
guard our readers against, and that is, having the 
baskets made dee]). Some may have an idea that 
if the plants have a large lot of stuff to grow in they 
will thrive better and produce more flowers, but this 
is a mistaken notion. The roots of orchids of this 
class run on the surface, or, at least, very closely be¬ 
neath it; in truth, if tho air is properly surcharged 
with moisture, the roots will prefer running out of 
the compost. Frequently the long roots of Stan¬ 
hopeas, that push strongly, and run along the surface 
of the compost, send forth fibres not into the com¬ 
post, but, strange to say, upwards into the congenial 
air, gathering, as it were, aerial food, to support and 
feed the plant they belong to. This proves satisfac¬ 
torily enough that deep baskets are no advantage 
even to the growth of tho plant, but to the flower- 
stems of some kinds of Stanhopeas they are certainly 
injurious. We say some kinds, such as Stanhopea 
