Changes

Where closed pots are used , nearly one-half of the space should be devoted to drainage and the remainder to compost, consisting of about equal parts of peat fiber, chopped sphagnum and leaf-mold for most genera, adding a few pieces of charcoal in potting, and a piece beneath the rhizome of the tender ones. Care must be exercised in potting to distribute the roots properly and make the compost moderately firm about them, leaving the finished surface convex, to throw off surplus water and protect the rhizome from an overabundance of wet. Top-dressing with live sphagnum is beneficial to many orchids, such as Odonioglossum crispum and allies, and gives the surface a neat appearance. Fig. 2668 illustrates a finished pot, the dotted line in Fig. 2666 indicating the amount of drainage required.

Where closed pots are used , nearly one-half of the space should be devoted to drainage and the remainder to compost, consisting of about equal parts of peat fiber, chopped sphagnum and leaf-mold for most genera, adding a few pieces of charcoal in potting, and a piece beneath the rhizome of the tender ones. Care must be exercised in potting to distribute the roots properly and make the compost moderately firm about them, leaving the finished surface convex, to throw off surplus water and protect the rhizome from an overabundance of wet. Top-dressing with live sphagnum is beneficial to many orchids, such as Odonioglossum crispum and allies, and gives the surface a neat appearance. Fig. 2668 illustrates a finished pot, the dotted line in Fig. 2666 indicating the amount of drainage required.

When perforated or open-work pots or baskets are employed, no direct drainage is necessary. Rough, broken pieces of charcoal should be freely used in the compost while potting, as it helps to keep the mass firm and the roots of nearly all species attach to it freely; also it lessens the quantity of compost and so modifies its texture as to allow it to dry out more readily than when packed in a solid body.

When perforated or open-work pots or baskets are employed, no direct drainage is necessary. Rough, broken pieces of charcoal should be freely used in the compost while potting, as it helps to keep the mass firm and the roots of nearly all species attach to it freely; also it lessens the quantity of compost and so modifies its texture as to allow it to dry out more readily than when packed in a solid body.

Cattleyas of the C. intermedia type, coryanthes, cypripediums of the C. Lowei and C. Stonei sections, some dendrobiums, Oncidium carthaginense, O. crispum, O. macranthum, 0. Papilio and their allies should have the leaf-mold omitted, while aerides, phalaenopsis, saccolabiums, vandas and kindred genera require only chopped live sphagnum and charcoal as a compost.

Cattleyas of the C. intermedia type, coryanthes, cypripediums of the C. Lowei and C. Stonei sections, some dendrobiums, Oncidium carthaginense, O. crispum, O. macranthum, 0. Papilio and their allies should have the leaf-mold omitted, while aerides, phalaenopsis, saccolabiums, vandas and kindred genera require only chopped live sphagnum and charcoal as a compost.

It is often said that orchids need a well-marked period of rest. This is not always possible with specimens newly received from the wilds, as the flowering period has to be changed to accord with our winter or summer which in time governs their well-being. We will assume that the flowers have been pollinated by insect agency, and the seeds have matured. This maturation usually requires about a year. No one knows the number of seeds that will be contained in a healthy capsule. There must be tens of thousands, a very small proportion of which ever reach maturity when sown under glass; but here is apparently a reason for the time taken to ripen the capsule, that it may take place about the period for the plants to bloom again, which is presumably the most favorable or rainy season, and the seeds are distributed by the breeze to suitable media, and a proportion germinates and grows. We learn by sowing under glass that very few, even under the most careful treatment, ever live through the vicissitudes of initial stages, the tiny green globes or thalli having no true roots for months. It is perhaps a year after sowing the seeds before true roots are visible, but in the mean- tune, a hot drying day, if no gentle spraying of moisture is given, will blast all the hopes of many months' waiting: but we have the compensation of knowing that each plant we raise will be eminently fitted to survive under greenhouse conditions. The recent careful laboratory investigations have suggested rational methods of procedure in the growing of seedlings, and the subject will probably gradually pass out of the region of accident and doubt. (See page 2387.)

It is often said that orchids need a well-marked period of rest. This is not always possible with specimens newly received from the wilds, as the flowering period has to be changed to accord with our winter or summer which in time governs their well-being. We will assume that the flowers have been pollinated by insect agency, and the seeds have matured. This maturation usually requires about a year. No one knows the number of seeds that will be contained in a healthy capsule. There must be tens of thousands, a very small proportion of which ever reach maturity when sown under glass; but here is apparently a reason for the time taken to ripen the capsule, that it may take place about the period for the plants to bloom again, which is presumably the most favorable or rainy season, and the seeds are distributed by the breeze to suitable media, and a proportion germinates and grows. We learn by sowing under glass that very few, even under the most careful treatment, ever live through the vicissitudes of initial stages, the tiny green globes or thalli having no true roots for months. It is perhaps a year after sowing the seeds before true roots are visible, but in the mean- tune, a hot drying day, if no gentle spraying of moisture is given, will blast all the hopes of many months' waiting: but we have the compensation of knowing that each plant we raise will be eminently fitted to survive under greenhouse conditions. The recent careful laboratory investigations have suggested rational methods of procedure in the growing of seedlings, and the subject will probably gradually pass out of the region of accident and doubt. (See page 2387.)

Variation that obtains among wild orchids is also present in various degrees among crosses and hybrids raised under cultivation. This was proved by the raising of over eighty plants of Cattteya Thayeriana, no two of which were alike, and some could not have been attributed to the same origin were it not for the connecting-links that rounded out the series.

Variation that obtains among wild orchids is also present in various degrees among crosses and hybrids raised under cultivation. This was proved by the raising of over eighty plants of Cattteya Thayeriana, no two of which were alike, and some could not have been attributed to the same origin were it not for the connecting-links that rounded out the series.