May 23rd, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
599 
they do in baskets, and when potted they are generally 
placed on the stage too far from the glass, and retain 
the water given them longer than these plants like. 
Against these arguments it is said, with much truth, 
that it is impossible to suspend everything, and that 
when baskets are used they are dangerous to the 
plant when decaying. To this it may be answered 
that if it is for the benefit of the plant, some means 
of raising it to a fair distance from the glass should 
be found, and that if the Saccolabiums and Aerides have 
done well in baskets, which -would have done badly 
in pots, the trouble of removing the old basket and 
replacing it with a new one ought not to be considered. 
The specimen Saccolabiums at Mrs. Lawrence’s, that 
with twenty spikes at Mr. Blandy’s, and all the others 
in those days, were in baskets, and I do not think their 
equals will ever be found in pots. 
The Orchid baskets, too, are so much improved in 
the present day that all objection to them has been 
removed, and I venture to predict a great future for 
them. Those made by Mr. J. E. Bonny, of Downs 
Park Road, Hackney, are well finished, and the 
superior teak of which they are made will cause them 
to last for years. Those of Mr. Wm. Gordon, of 
Twickenham, too, are excellent, being made of teak 
and well put together; and I should like those 
who are not satisfied with their Saccolabiums, 
Aerides, and smaller Vandas, to try them in baskets, 
using plenty of crocks and charcoal where obtainable, 
and only a little sphagnum moss. 
In growing this class of plants, if the growers would 
but take the hint from the Dendrobee, which grow 
with them in their native habitats, and make the 
growing-time of the Saccolabium to correspond with 
theirs, they would give their plants less heat and 
water in winter and more in spring and summer, and 
a better condition would come upon them. The 
excessive heat which is often given to Saccolabiums 
and Aerides, and given, too, in winter, and while they 
are so far away from what little light there is, stunts 
them, prevents their flowering, and makes it hard 
work for them even to live. 
Materials for Potting. 
Now as to materials for potting. Good living 
sphagnum for Saccolabiums, Aerides, Vandas, Phalas- 
nopsis, Angrrecums, and others of like growth, and 
the fibre of peat composed of Fern root alone for 
Cattleyas and Balias has always been considered the 
best. Unfortunately, much of the peat of late years has 
been of Grass and Heath root, which is liable to rapid 
decay, and consequently to cause injury to the plants. 
Various materials, such as cocoa-nut fibre, have been 
advanced to supersede peat, but none have proved 
acceptable. I therefore recommend all who wish 
their plants well to keep to the sphagnum moss and 
the best peat they can get, using the less of the latter 
when it is not good, and to leave experiments to 
others. There are always plenty ready to try new 
things, and curiously enough it is never the learner 
who carries the experiments to a serious conclusion, 
but the well-tried old hand, who, having done all that 
is good and reasonable, goes in for a new idea on a 
large scale. 
I can call to mind several unaccountable instances 
of this kind, in one of which I remember a clever 
grower in the north, who had for years grown his 
plants to perfection, suddenly became possessed with 
the idea that chopped sphagnum, and what appeared 
to me to be road-grit, was the proper thing for all 
Orchids, and forthwith he proceeded to pot them in 
it. In another case I found that a previously well- 
grown collection had been potted in sphagnum moss 
and what I was told was prepared cocoa-nut fibre. 
How effectual the preparation was in getting the 
plants ready to depart this life I need not say. 
Above all things, a steady perseverance in what 
others have found to be a correct method of treat¬ 
ment answers best, and it is better to leave doubtful 
experiments to their originators until they are proven. 
The worst of it is that wonder-workers are never tired 
of getting others to injure their plants by trying their 
schemes, and hence much mischief occurs. For my 
part, I have generally found that the extreme practices 
which we hear of from time to time in the end only 
go to prove the extraordinary tenacity of life in 
Orchids, and their adaptability to the different kinds 
of treatment they must necessarily receive at different 
hands. 
SnAn ing and Heating. 
Next comes the shading and heating of the Orchid- 
house. With respect to the shading, I am convinced 
that all Orchids should be shaded against the direct 
rays of the sun, and that the shading should, where 
possible, be varied in thickness according to the plants 
contained in the house. Some of those very thin 
materials we see exhibited, when strengthened with 
webbing, do admirably for Lfelias and other Mexican 
andBrazilian plants; the medium textures for Cattleyas, 
and the thickest for Cypripediums, Masdevallias, and 
all cold-house plants, all East Indian Orchids, and 
all terrestial Orchids, such as Calanthe veratrifolia, 
Phajus Wallichii, &c. These grow in dense jungles, 
and bright sunlight dwarfs them and altogether spoils 
them. 
I saw a remarkable instance of this recently in a 
garden where a Calanthe veratrifolia had been kept 
in a sunny house for years, and had always been a 
miserable and stunted object. At length it was placed 
out of the way on the centre bed, and underneath the 
tall plants, which effectually hid it from view. In 
a very short time it became a robust, free-flowering 
plant. I have seen many similar cases where exces¬ 
sive sunlight under glass has had much the same 
effect as excessive cold would have done. I therefore 
assert that although most Orchids require a clear 
light, yet when grown under glass all of them should 
be sheltered from the unbroken rays of the sun from 
the time it gets the power to injure until its power 
wanes. For Orchids in flower a thick shading is 
absolutely necessary, as the flowers last twice as long 
shaded, and draw on the strength of the plants much 
less than they do when exposed to the sun. As 
regards the heating of Orchid-houses, I early found 
that it was necessary to have some plan, and to 
adhere to it, checking it by the thermometer. I there¬ 
fore compiled the following scale for the whole 
year 
Table of Temperatures for Orchid-houses. 
Months. 
Warm House. 
East Indian. 
Cattleya, or 
Intermediate 
House. 
Day. 
Night 
Day. 
Night 
J anuary. 
Degrs. 
Degs. 
Degrs. 
Degs. 
65—70 
60 
60—65 
F ebruary. 
65—70 
60 
60—65 
55 
March. 
65—70 
60 
60—65 
55 
April. 
65—70 
60 
60—65 
55 
May . 
70-75 
65 
65—70 
60 
June. 
75—80 
70 
70—75 
65 
July. 
75 — 85 
70 
70—80 
65 
August. 
75—85 
70 
70—SO 
September. 
75—80 
70 
70—75 
October. 
70—75 
65 
65—70 
60 
November. 
65—70 
60 
60—65 
December . 
65—70 
60 1 
1 
60—65 
55 
a 
m 
Cj rn 
° 3 H 
g 
eg* 
« 
o 
Day. 
Degrs. 
50—55 
50—55 
55—60 
55—60 
60—65 
60—65 
60—70 
60—70 
60—65 
60—65 
55—60 
50—55 
Night 
Degs. 
45 
45 
50 
50 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
50 
45 
a- amemieiL, im: juigner 
attained by Sun heat when possible. 
This scale cannot, of course, be followed to the letter, 
neither is it necessary that it should be ; it is intended 
rather to give a basis on which to operate, to enforce a 
strict guard over the regulation of the heating, and to 
the preserving of that lower night temperature which 
is of such vital consequence to the plants, and which 
should in all cases be insured by night ventilation and 
by every other means at command. In summer the 
prescribed temperature will often be exceeded, but 
it hardly matters by how much if the extra rise is due 
to sun-heat, and the houses in which the plants are are 
properly shaded and kept moist. 
Arrangement of the Plants. 
And now the manner of tfie arrangement of the plants 
in the houses demands attention, as I am bound to 
confess that in all ages of Orchid culture, even down 
to this day, a great mortality has always prevailed 
among small growing plants ; this arises probably, in 
many cases, from excessive heat and too little air, 
but in by far the greater number of cases by the 
lesser plants being made to occupy the front portions 
of the graduated stages, thus reversing the proper 
order of things and placing the strong plants 
near the glass and the weak and dwarf ones the 
farthest from it. From this cause I am sure the 
periodical scarcity of the Ionopsis, Trichocentrums, 
Comparettias, Barkerias, and such-like frail things 
may, in a great measure, be attributed to the distance 
they are grown from the glass. Indeed, it is of the 
highest importance that in general practice some 
attempt should be made to arrange the plants with 
relation to the distance from the glass of the roof 
according to their height and general growth. Hence, 
the very smallest should always be grown on blocks, 
rafts, or in baskets or shallow pans, and the others 
arranged according to their heights, as nearly as the 
necessity for occupying all the staging will permit. 
Allowing 1 ft. from the glass as the safety line, a 
good rough rule may be laid down that every small or 
medium-sized true epiphytal Orchid will do best if 
brought to within its own height of that line ; thus, if 
a plant is 12 ins. high it should be brought to within 
2 ft. of the glass of the roof; if 1 ft. 6 ins. to 2 ft. 6 ins., 
and so on until the larger and stronger growing kinds 
which will do in any position are reached. 
The rule should be approached as nearly as possible 
with small things, but with large ones a distance of 
3 ft. from the glass is a convenient and good one. Of 
course, this rule, like every other in such an elastic 
matter as Orchid culture, cannot be adhered to in all 
cases, but if steadily kept in mind and followed where 
practicable, it will be found of the greatest service in 
preserving the delicate subjects. Cypripediums, Mas¬ 
devallias, cool-house Orchids generally, and terrestrial 
Orchids, although requiring some consideration in the 
same way, are not included in those which it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary to arrange after some modification 
of the before-mentioned plan. 
And now after I have endeavoured to gain converts 
by showing that Orchid culture is a pleasant occupation 
to those who possess some skill and much diligence, 
and who are willing to observe nature and follow her 
dictates in the culture of their plants, demanding of 
them only twelve months’ work in a year, exercising 
their judgment in all cases to the best of their 
ability, andmaintainingthemost scrupulous cleanliness 
in houses, plants, and everything around their plants, 
let me finish with a few observations as to the cost 
of the plants. 
The Cost of Orchids. 
On this head it may safely be said that never were 
good showy Orchids to be obtained at more convenient 
prices, and that the present regulation of supply and 
demand, while presenting to the wealthy collector rare 
plants for which he must pay well, at the same time 
offer to him who finds a congenial pastime in tend¬ 
ing his one or two little houses of Orchids, plenty of 
beautiful things as well within the reach of his purse 
as any ordinary plant would be. Indeed, good things 
are cheaper now than ever they were, and with the 
exception of a few very high prices, those realized 
now-a-days are not the outcome of a new Orchid craze, 
as a comparison with former prices will prove. 
Rare things, according to the esteem in which they 
are held in their day, have always commanded good 
prices. In March 1846, at a sale of Guatemalan 
Orchids at Stevens’s, Coslia macrostachya realized 
£10 to £12 10s.; Barkeria spectabilis, £5 to £17 each; 
Epidendrum Stamfordianum, 5 guineas ; Ltelia super- 
biens, £13 to £15 ; Mormodes and Epidendrums, 5 to 
10 guineas each, and Arpophyllums, £10 to £15 each ; 
the 168 lots realizing £600. In 1845, D. aqueum 
fetched £10 a plant, and later onD. formosum 15 guineas, 
other Dendrobes, £10 to £12 each; Oncidium macran- 
thum, £5 to £8 each. In 1847, the imported plants of 
Vanda Lowii fetched from £10 to £25 each ; Aerides 
maculosum, £20 ; A. crispum, £21; A. odoratum, £16, 
and others equally high prices ; Mrs. Lawrence, the 
Earl of Derby, Mr. Rucker, and Mr. Schroder being 
the principal buyers. Notes taken at the same period 
also tell us that errors of description were more 
frequent in former times than in ours. Ansellia 
Africana is described as [having immense sprays of 
handsome flowers each as large as a Tulip, and in 
another case the auctioneer is entrusted with the 
sale of a bright scarlet Vanda 1 
It will, therefore, be seen that ever since Orchids 
were introduced they could command prices according 
to their beauty or rarity, and so no doubt it will con¬ 
tinue to be. Let us hope that the now great facilities 
for obtaining handsome things, formerly very expen¬ 
sive, may with the aid of the display of their beauties 
that is Conference, induce many new growers to 
commence, each according to his means, for out of 
such ranks our great Orchid-growers of the future 
will be recruited. 
