THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Sept. C, 18S4‘ 
12 
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In commencing a series of seasonable notes on 
Orchids and their culture, an introduction is not 
necessary, the plants, by their singular beauty and 
interest, and the increasing facilities offered for 
obtaining them, having become favoured subjects 
of cultivation by a large number of amateurs who 
are ever eager to obtain information respecting 
them. So extensively have they insinuated them¬ 
selves into the gardening world that they are now to 
be found in less or greater numbers in most places 
where plant culture under glass is carried on ; 
indeed, in some instances where mixed plant culture 
has been tried and found unsatisfactory, the houses 
have been cleared and filled again with Orchids. 
Many more plant growers there also are who would 
be willing to spare one or two of their houses, but 
that they fear they would not suit Orchids. To 
such it should be said that Orchids may be well 
tion be so arranged, top and bottom, that an even 
temperature can be secured, and the top ventilators 
should be in the highest part of the roof, and the 
bottom ones as near the level of the floor as con¬ 
venient, say within a foot of the ground line. 
Swinging sashes for side ventilation on a. level with 
the stages, should not be allowed in any case, and 
where such exist in a house intended for Orchids, 
they should be permanently fastened up, and venti¬ 
lating traps be put near the base beneath the stage 
as recommended. Secondly, that a good rain-water 
tank be arranged in the house; and thirdly, that the 
house be properly fitted with thin rolling blinds, to 
be used from the time the sun gets power to injure in 
the spring until it loses it in autumn. These points 
attended to, and the staging arranged in a manner 
we will speak of later on, almost any existing plant- 
house will do as well for Orchid culture as a newly 
built one. 
Next comes the question as to what it is best to 
grow, and this is an important matter, for many a 
rebuff does the amateur get by buying plants 
Laelia albida, white and lalac. 
„ autumnalis, rose. 
,, anceps, rose and crimson. 
„ purpurata, white and purple. 
„ Perrinii, lilac and purple. 
Lycaste Skinneri, white, rose, and crimson. 
,, cruenta, yellow. 
„ Harrisoniae, white and crimson. 
Masdevallias, all the showy varieties. 
Maxillaria grandiflora, white and yellow. 
OdontoglosSum Alexandria;, white. 
„ Pescatorei, fWiite. 
„ luteo-purpureum, yellow and brown. 
,, vexillarium, rose. 
„ any other showy sorts. 
Oncidium flexuosum, yellow. 
,, incurvum, white and rose. 
„ praetextum, yellow and brown. 
„ macranthum, yellow. 
„ cucullatum, rose and crimson. 
,, tigrinum, yellow. 
Pleiones, all the species. 
Pilumna fragrans, white. 
Sophronitis grandiflora, scarlet. 
Trichopilia suavis, white and rose. 
Zygopetalum Mackayii, white and blue. 
ONCIDIUM FLEXUOSUM. 
grown in a house of any shape, of any reasonable 
height, or of any aspect, provided it is properly 
ventilated and shaded. One of the best tests as to 
the fitness of any house for Orchid culture is to note 
whether you feel comfortable in it yourself or not. 
If a sense of discomfort is experienced in it at any 
time in the day, and if the then existing state of 
things can be maintained, the Orchids will thrive 
if properly attended to. If, on the other hand, the 
house feels unpleasant to yourself, the cause of the 
unpleasantness should be sought, and it will be sure 
to be something which would militate against the 
plants. The great Orchid establishments of Messrs 
Veitch, Sander, Williams, Bull, Low, and others, 
as well as our large private collections, all work on 
this principle, mankind and plants being found to 
agree in liking a pure wholesome atmosphere, and 
Consequently even the houses in which those Orchids 
that do not like cold are grown, are never uncom¬ 
fortable. This practical overthrow of the notion 
that most Orchids required to be grown in hot, 
uncomfortable houses has tended, more perhaps than 
anything else, to their being so generally cultivated. 
The main features necessary in a house to render 
it fit to contain Orchids are, first, that the ventila- 
indiscriminately without considering whether they 
are likely to do with him or not. By far the better 
plan is for the beginner to commence with cold 
house and intermediate house varieties only, and 
leave those requiring heat until he is sure of his 
ground, unless indeed the only accommodation at 
liberty is for warm house kinds, in which case they 
should of course have the preference. But where 
the choice is open, it is better to begin with the 
easily grown cool house kinds, and as the easiest 
to cultivate and also the most showy when in flower, 
the following selection may be named, the prevailing 
colour of the flower in each case being given:—• 
Ada aurantiaca, orange. 
Anguloa Clowesii, yellow. 
„ virginalis, white. 
Cattleya Trianae, rose and crimson. 
,, Mossise „ 
,, Mendelii „ 
,, citrina, yellow. 
Ccelogyne cristata, white and yellow. 
Cypripedium insigne, yellow and brown. 
„ Sedeni, rose. 
Dendrobium nobile, white and rose. 
,, Wardianum „ 
„ chrysotoxum, yellow. 
Epidendrum vitellinum, orange. 
With a little selection of this kind, which can be 
obtained at a vei’y small cost, much pleasure and 
a certain display of beautiful flowers may be secured 
without the slightest chance of failure in the hands 
of anyone having a real interest in and liking for 
them. The beauty, durability, and in most cases 
the fragrance of Orchid flowers commend them to 
all, and particularly to those who have indoor and 
table decorations to make, as the plants can be used 
without much fear of injury, and the flowers when 
cut, last in most cases a very long time. In some 
instances they are indeed of almost incredible 
durability—now on my table is a spray of Dendro- 
bim superbiens, which has been good for more than 
four weeks; D. infundibulum and Lycaste Skinneri 
I have found to last six weeks after being cut, and 
Epidendrum vitellinum and some of the Odonto- 
glossums will keep good for a month .—James O'Brien. 
ORCHID NOTES. 
Oncidium flexuosum. —This is one of the most 
useful, as it is also one of the most manageable 
species of the genus, its light and elegant sprays of 
yellow flowers (see illustration) appearing as one of 
the most telling things in the cut-flower arrange- 
