28 
®hfj ©t|tltid ©ljoiuciffi dfatyular. 
Temperatures for Orchids. —The proper regula¬ 
tion of the temperature of Orchid houses, plays a 
inost important part in the culture of the plants— 
so important is it, indeed, that unless it be carefully 
attended to, all good management in other direc¬ 
tions is only thrown away. And yet, too often the 
heating is arranged by rule of thumb, and no 
proper scale is fixed; or, where a sort of plan is set 
Up, in many cases thermometers are not in the 
houses to test it, and the cultivator trusts merely 
to his own impression as to whether the tempera¬ 
tures are right or not. Although, by experience, 
most Orchid growers can tell pretty accurately 
whether there is anything particularly wrong, either 
in the ventilation or the heating, immediately on 
entering an Orchid house, yet at best it is but guess 
work. A good thermometer, therefore, should be 
placed in each house, in order to denote accurately 
the correct temperature at all times. 
It is now well know r n that Orchids, even from the 
hottest parts of the tropics, do not require, and could 
not withstand under cultivation in glass structures, 
the high temperature which they get in their native 
habitats; indeed, in their own homes, although 
the hottest season finds them prepared for it, and 
in the proper condition to suffer it best, large num¬ 
bers of them are often killed or rendered almost 
leafless by the heat. The reason, therefore, that we 
grow and flower many Orchids better than they are 
to be found in their own countries is, that while we 
bear in mind their times of growth, rest, &c., we 
the gardening world. 
however, 5° or 10° lower is sufficient, but woe 
betide the plants which are treated to a higher 
night temperature than is given them by day; their 
course will be short, and their end miserable. 
Unless a proper check be kept this is often likely 
to be the case, particularly in autumn, when the 
fires are kept banked down all day, and are got 
up in the evening in order to prepare them to go 
through the night. This matter should be carefully 
looked to, as nothing is more injurious to Orchids 
than an excessive night temperature. 
The table given below is a scale of temperatures 
for the year, based on the presumption that there 
are three houses, or three divisions, capable of being 
regulated to different degrees. With such kept as 
near as possible according to the scale given, the 
amateur, by carefully arranging his plants in the 
proper compartments, and by moving them from 
one to the other as their condition of growth may 
require it, may successfully grow Orchids of all 
kinds. Of course, in excessively hot weather the 
heat outside will force a higher temperature than 
that advised, but with proper ventilation and damp¬ 
ing down that will not cause the least injury. 
In the temperatures given the plants will be' 
found to thrive well and make good, stout, flowering 
growth; and at the same time they will not be in¬ 
fested with the troublesome and destructive insects, 
which always attack them when they are grown in 
excessive heat, and indeed are generally the outcome^ 
of such treatment. 
In order to ensure the proper regulation of the 
temperatures, it is essential that too many houses 
should not be connected with one boiler, and that 
Sept. 13th, 18S4. 
does in the dull days of the Orchid season, with its 
gorgeous purple flowers of great substance, which 
last four weeks, it should be grown more than it is, 
but when buyers get it, obtain strong plants, and 
do not be afraid. —De B. Crawshay. 
t>-F l i a Havana. —This i& a choice Orchid, flowering 
now in the Mexican house; the sepals and petals 
being dark rose, while the lip is rich purple, 
margined with lilac and white. It is a small growing 
species, flowering from the young growths. I find 
the flowers are larger and of better substance when 
grown in baskets, than those grown on blocks, but 
in either position it flowers very freely and must 
not receive so much water as some species. — E. 
Dumper, The Gardens, Summerville, LimericJ:. 
Orchids for Beginners. —In Mr. O’Brien’s list 
of orchids for a beginner, at p. 12, I think Cattleya 
Gaskelliana, Cypripedium barbatum, and C. villosum 
ought to have a place, as they are such easy growers, 
and the former for its time of bloom alone is valu¬ 
able, as it prolongs the summer season to the autumn. 
One commencing in Lgelia erispa, which also I think 
ought to be placed therein, for it is almost as lovelv 
as Cattleya exoniensis when you get a good 
“ superba ” variety as I happen to have. I may 
speak on the subject of orchid culture, as of late 
(comparatively speaking) date I was a beginner 
and to all who now commence I say “ have con¬ 
fidence and patience,” and a great deal of the latter, 
coupled with enquiry and care, will ensure success, 
at least I fiave found it so .—De B. Crawshay. 
Table of Temperatures for Orchid Houses. 
Months, 
Warm House. 
East Indian. 
j 
Catti.bya, or 
Intermediate House. 
Cool, or 
, Odontoqlossuh 
House, 
Day. 
Night. 
Day. 
Night. 
Day. 
Night. 
January . 
66 ° — 70° 
60° 
60° — G5° 
55° 
50° — 55° 
45° 
February . 
65° — 70° 
60° 
60° — 65° 
55° 
50° — 55° 
45° 
March . 
05° — 70° 
G0° 
60° — 65° 
55° 
55° — 60° 
50° 
April . 
65° — 70° 
60° 
G0° — 65° 
55° 
55° — 60° 
50° 
May. 
70° — 75° 
65° 
65° — 70° 
60“ 
60° — 65° 
55° 
.1 une . ! 
75° — 80° 
70° 
70° — 75° 
65° 
60° — 65° 
55° 
July . 
75° — 85° 
70° 
70° — 80° 
65° 
60° — 70° 
55° 
August . 
75° — 85° 
70° 
70° — 80° 
65° 
60° — 70° 
September. 
75° — 80° 
70° 
70° — 75° 
65° 
60° — 65° 
65° 
October . 
70° — 75° 
65° 
65° — 70° 
60° 
60° — 65° 
November . 
65° — 70° 
60° . 
60° — 65° 
r-r’O 
DO 
55 ° __ 60° 
50° 
December . 
65° — 70° 
60° 1 
60° — 65° 
55° 1 
50° — 55° 
45° 
Degrees Fahrenheit. The higher day temperature to be attained by Sun heat when possible. 
place them in temperatures which will neither 
over stimulate nor exhaust them, and in which their 
annual round of growth, flowering and rest, shall 
just be accomplished in the year, and the result is 
that on this plan even amateurs of but short ex¬ 
perience with Orchids, grow them successfully and 
get a great deal of pleasure out of them. 
For the arrangement of the general plan of the 
temperatures for the Orchid houses for the whole 
year, it is best that it should follow our seasons in 
its rise and fall, making the warmest season in 
the height of summer, and the coldest in winter, 
because the greater part of the plants grow in 
spring and summer, and at those seasons the better 
light and purer air renders it desirable that they 
should do so. It is, therefore,'one of the objects of 
the grower to get as many things as possible to 
finish up their growth before the dull weather sets 
in; hence it is necessary that in winter low 
temperatures should rule in Orchid houses, so 
that the plants which would otherwise push out 
premature growth which could only be weak on 
account of the dull weather, may be kept back until 
spring comes. A high temperature in Orchid 
houses in winter is always doubly injurious bv 
reason of the few opportunities for admitting air 
freely at that season, and which alone can partially 
save Orchids from the ill effects of over-heating at 
any time. 
Another important matter connected with this 
subject, and one which is now generally admitted, 
is the necessity of having the temperatures at least 
5° lower at night than the lowest temnerature 
by day; naturally, it is so all over the world, and in 
some parts the night temperature is very much 
lower than that of the day. Under cultivation. 
valves should be fixed in every house at convenient 
points for checking and regulating the flow in the 
liot-water pipes, or otherwise all will depend on the 
boiler and the fire, which are very liable to suddenly 
increase or decrease in power at any time. For the 
purpose of heating Orchid houses, 4-in. hot-water 
pipes are by far the best, as the flow in them is 
steadier than in smaller ones, and the heat given off 
more gentle and regular. During the middle of 
the summer the heating apparatus may rest on all 
the houses in favourable seasons, and in the inter¬ 
mediate house in the middle of every summer, be it 
hot or changeable, while the cold Odontoglossum 
house should always be kept without artificial heat 
in weather warm enough to keep up the required 
temperature without it .—James O’Brien. 
ORCHID NOTES. 
The Demerara Form of Cattleya superba.— 
The fallacy of growing this in great heat is 
gradually fading away like so many of the unfor¬ 
tunate plants thus treated. I have had great 
success with a batch of thirty imported plants 
placed in the Cattleya-house, of an ordinary heat, 
with C. Mosske, C. Trianse and numerous others, in¬ 
cluding C. Warneri. They have made far better 
growth two years in succession than any I ever 
saw grown in the usual East Indian heat to which 
they are subjected. Some of the stronger plants 
make two bulbs in each year, and produce three or 
four flowers on each. Surely no more success than 
this could with ordinary mortals be wished for. I 
put my plants in pans or baskets, and hang them 
near the glass, dipping them liberally during 
growth, but sparingly when at rest. Blooming, as it 
■Strides Lawrencian.®. —This remarkably fine 
new species was exhibited in flower, on Tuesday, 
at South Kensington, by Mr Ballantyne, gardener 
to Baron Schroder. The Dell, Egham. The plant 
bore a good spike with 8 flowers open, and was much 
admired for its fine size and distinct appearance. 
FLORICULTURE. 
Dahlias at the Crystal Palace. —Lovers of 
this flower had a great treat at the Crystal Palace, 
Sydenham, on Saturday last. The genus Dahlia 
could be seen represented in strong force in all its 
divisions—Show, Fancy, Pompon, and Single. If 
the Dahlia does not command the high prices it 
formerly did, it appears to be very popular still, 
and nurserymen say they can sell all the plants 
they propagate. At one time Seedling Dahlias of 
decided value used to fetch large prices when they 
were sold to some nurserymen to propagate and 
send out. A variety named Beauty of Telfont was 
the first that commanded a high price. This 
variety was raised by the Rev. T. B. Ward, of Tel¬ 
font, and was purchased by the Messrs. Brown, the 
then well-known nurserymen of Slough, for the 
sum of ,£60. Then followed Yellow Defiance, pur¬ 
chased by the same firm for £200—certainly the 
highest amount ever given for a Dahlia. It was 
sent out in 1840. Essex Triumph, raised in 1841, 
was bought in 1843 for £60 ■. Marchioness of 
Otrnond fetched 4)105; Shyloek, Beeswing, Alice, and 
Cleopatra commanded .£100 each ; Lady Sale, £70 ; 
Nonpareil, Sir J. Richardson, Duke of Wellington, 
Bob, Sir R. Whittington, and British Queen, cost 
.£o0 each. There were many other varieties that 
would have brought large sums of money in their 
day had T hey not been sent out by their raisers, 
such as the Hon. Mrs. Harris, raised in 1834 .• 
Unique, Beauty of the Plain, Mr. Seldon, Sir T 
Bathurst, and Princess Radziwill. In those days 
it did not always follow as a matter of course that 
the higher the price the better was the flower. This 
was regulated, in a great measure, by what the 
flower had done when exhibited as a seedling, its 
popularity, novelty, and improved form. When a 
flower had made a name because of its intrinsic 
merits, a large sale followed, and the probabilities 
of this sale had something to do with the price 
paid for it. In 1852 the sum of <£105 was paid by 
Mr. C. Turner for a variety named Queen Victoria. 
It was sent out in 1853; but though it had been 
shown in a very fine form previously, it could not 
be produced after it was sent out in anything like 
exhibition form, and soon ceased to be cultivated, 
