168 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 27 
I 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC OR CHID AC ERA 
Section III.— The Prober Amount of Heat, 
Moisture, and Air the Plants require, at all 
Times of the Year. —This section of orchid culture 
is of great importance to their successful growth. If 
it is neglected or carelessly attended to, all other 
cares which we have previously described, will be I 
almost bestowed in vain. We entreat our readers, 
therefore, to pay particular attention to this section, 
and endeavour to carry out our instructions to the 
very letter, or, at least, as far as circumstances w r ill 
allow. 
This section naturally divides itself into four heads. 
1st. Pleat. 2nd. Moisture to the air inside the 
houses. 3rd. Watering with the garden-pot and 
syringe. 4th. Giving air. 
As we intend our instructions to be full and ex¬ 
plicit, so that there can be no mistake about these 
important matters, both to gardeners who may not 
have had much experience on these particulars, and 
to amateurs who may have had no experience at all, 
we shall descant upon each head more fully than we 
have hitherto done, though we run the risk of some¬ 
times repeating directions we may have incidentally 
given in former numbers. 
Heat. —As orchids for the greater part are natives 
of the hottest parts of the globe, they require a cor¬ 
responding temperature to be secured to them in our 
colder regions. To accommodate these warmth-loving 
plants, we build houses, and to give them light we 
use glass roofs. This material not only admits the 
rays of light, but also the rays of the sun which warm 
the interior of the house. This heat when thus con 
fined is, during at least four months of the year, suf¬ 
ficient for these plants, and is, sometimes, even more, 
during the day, than they require. To moderate this 
excess of heat, and to prevent the rays of the great 
luminary of the day from scorching the leaves, we 
give air and use shades. But, though the sun, in 
general, will give us heat sufficient from the middle 
of May to the middle of September; yet during the 
rest of the year artificial heat to keep up the required 
temperature is necessary. There are several methods 
by which this may be accomplished. Now, orchids 
may be grown, and successfully too, at least, in a de¬ 
gree, by the old common smoke flue, provided the 
flues are well built and covered with deeply-dished 
covers to hold water, whilst the plants are growing. 
We mention this possibility of growing orchids in a 
house heated by such means, t to encourage amateurs 
who might wish to cultivate them, but cannot afford 
the more expensive, though by far the best, mode of 
heating by iron pipes and tanks filled with circulating 
hot water. A house built with brick walls glazed 
with cheap glass, and heated with such flues to hold 
a hundred of the best kinds might be put up in the 
I country by common workmen, and all materials 
found for thirty or forty pounds, which is not such a 
very heart-breaking sum of money. The only dif¬ 
ference in the expense between an orchid house and 
a common greenhouse, will be in the size of the fire¬ 
place, and the amount of fuel, with a little more cost 
in the dished covers. Those who have already a 
greenhouse, and would like to change their gera¬ 
niums, calceolarias, heaths, camellias, &c., for or¬ 
chids, would only have to rebuild the flues, put pro¬ 
per covers upon them, and enlarge the fireplace, 
to convert their greenhouse into a house for orchids. 
Do not, however, mistake our meaning. We do not 
recommend smoke-flues, excepting as of a matter 
economy in the first cost of the orchid house. A 
boiler and range of pipes (and tanks), for plants re¬ 
quiring moist air, is by far the best mode of heating 
for every kind of plant requiring artificial heat; but 
more especially for orchids. To heat a house with 
hot water of the capacity above mentioned, would cost 
at least half as much more. To such amateurs as 
can afford it, we would say, by all means heat with 
i hot water in the manner described at page 64 of this 
3rd volume. As is there stated, the size of the boiler 
and quantity of pipes and tanks required depends 
entirely upon the size of the house. The power of 
heating should be more than is required in ordinary 
winters in order to be prepared for those very severe 
ones that sometimes occur. It is always easy enough 
to give less heat in moderate weather by having less 
fire applied under the boiler. The degrees of heat 
required, we shall now give for all the year. 
INDIAN HOUSE. 
Fahrenheit. 
Day with 
Sun. 
Day with¬ 
out Sun. 
Night. 
Morning 
Spring. 
75 
70 
60 
55 
Summer. 
85 or 90 
70 
65 
60 
Autumn. 
70 
65 
60 
55 
Winter . 
65 
6o 
55 
50 
MEXICAN HOUSE. 
Spring. 
70 
65 
60 
55 
Summer. 
75 
65 
60 
55 
Autumn. 
6o 
55 
50 
50 
Winter . 
55 
50 
50 
45 
Our readers will perceive that the lowest tempera¬ 
ture at all seasons is in the morning; that is, before 
the fires are stirred. The heat in the mornings in 
summer will depend upon the heat of the atmosphere 
out of doors; the rest of the day may be regulated 
by giving air, which we shall allude to under the 3rd 
head of this section. The principle of having a lower 
temperature during the night is perfectly natural. 
The variations even in tropical countries in that re¬ 
spect is great. In the West India Islands the night 
air is comparatively cold, accompanied with a great 
fall of dew. This, though refreshing to plants, rein¬ 
vigorating them, as it were, and enabling them to sus¬ 
tain the fierce heat of the sun, is very injurious to 
human life, so much so, that if a man unfortunately 
is exposed to its baneful influence by sleeping in the 
open air, it often proves fatal; whilst orchids are 
refreshed, and then send out their splendid flowers 
in great luxuriance. We must, therefore, imitate this 
kind of climate. Have great, or at least, greater heat 
during the day, and a lower temperature dining the 
night; and syringe freely during the growing hot 
season,—of which, more anon. 
A correspondent having requested a list of a score 
of easily-grown, freely-flowering, and moderately 
cheap orchids, that will flourish in a common stove, 
we shall fill up our remaining space this week by 
complying with his request; thinking, with him, that 
the information will be acceptable to many of our 
readers. 
