Compost

The best we have noticed is this recommended by Mr. T. Apple-by:-

"Procure a quantity of sphagnum or common bog moss, have it dried and then chopped small. To this add half-rotten willow or poplar wood, on account of their lightness and the absence of resin, chopped into small pieces of various sizes, the largest not bigger than pigeons' eggs. To these add the under stratum of sphagnum, which has become almost peat, likewise chopped fine, the whole in about equal parts.

"These make altogether a light open compost, which appears admirably to suit the plants, as they root in it freely and thrive; I use it chiefly for the species that grow upon trees. For such as grow upon the ground, I use stronger compost."- Gard. Chron.

Culture

The following general suggestions are from Mr. Bateman's most valuable work on the Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala:-

"Supposing the plants established in a suitable house, then the following rules will be found to contain all that is most essential for their successful management.

"1st. The plants can scarcely have too much light or too little sun. Light prevents mildew, strengthens the fibre, and checks the disposition to throw up a succession of weakly shoots, which are quite incompatible with the production of flowers. The sun, on the contrary, scorches and turns the leaves yellow, especially when it first begins to shine powerfully upon plants that have just left their winter quarters. In order to secure as much light as possible, many species should be suspended in the air from rafters or chains, some being placed on blocks of wood, (corkwood is the best,) or fragments of cocoa-nut husks, and others in baskets of wire or wicker work filled with moss and broken peat, or in pots with pierced sides. The latter answer perfectly fur plants (e. g. the Saccolabiums) which are of slow growth, and thrust their roots into the air. Baskets answer best for Stanhopeas and the like. To prevent injury from the rays of the sun, shading is of course necessary; but this should be so arranged as to be easily removed, as it ought not to be continued for more than ten or twelve hours on the very longest summer's day.

Exotic climbing plants introduced sparingly are advantageous, and have a good effect.

"2d. Take care of the roots. On the health of the roots everything depends. The winter is with them the most critical season, for if suffered to grow too dry, they shrivel up and perish, if too wet they rot. Much of course depends upon the mode in which the plants are potted, and which should be such as to admit of their readily parting with all superfluous moisture, and to secure this, nothing is better than a plentiful admixture of broken pots-herds. High potting is now so generally practised in good collections, that it is needless to insist upon its importance.

"Rapidly growing plants, such as the different species of Phaius, Gongorce, Peristerica, Stanhopeca, etc, require to be broken up and entirely repotted every second or third year; on the other hand, there are some air plants, etc, that may remain undisturbed for five or ten years together.

3d. Beware of noxious insects. Orchidaceae are more particularly exposed to the attacks of the following insects: woodlice, crickets, and cockroaches, the thrip, a minute woolly white scale, and a diminutive species of snail, the two last being infinitely the most pernicious. Woodlice are easily kept in check by placing the plants on saucers, or within troughs filled with water, especially if the valuable aid of a few toads be called in. The Oniscampitre Epiphyte Stand, invented by Mr. Lyons, is an ingenious and no doubt effectual way of accomplishing the same end. It is made by merely fixing a forked branch or back of wood, to the raised centre of a massive saucer or feeder, which being kept constantly full of water, forms a sort of foss, impassable to vermin, round the plant it is intended to guard; crickets and cockroaches are very fond of flour scapes, and to be dreaded accordingly; red wafers scattered over sand among the pots are to them very tempting baits, and if swallowed, the red lead they contain acts as a poison; but these pests are best destroyed by the mixture recommended for the white scale. The thrip does not do much mischief, except where plants are either neglected or grown in too hot and dry a temperature.

It usually first appears among the lataseta, and is to be removed by careful washing. Small snails abound in some collections, while in others they are unknown: it is difficult to conjecture whence they come, and all but impossible to eradicate them entirely. They batten upon the tenderest roots, such as plants put forth when they are just beginning to grow, and if not kept in check would speedily produce irretrievable mischief. Lettuce leaves, slices of potato, turnips, etc, are very enticing, and while they divert the attention of the enemy from the roots, they also afford an opportunity of capturing him. The collections which are watered exclusively with rain water are the least infested. But the worst plague of all is the small white scale, which in its first insidious approaches, appears only as a white speck upon the leaves, then covers them with a soft whitish down, and finally kills them. For this the following remedy will be found efficacious, viz.: dissolve half a pound of camphor in a pint of spirits of wine, the result will be an impalpable powder, to which add one pound of scotch snuff, one ditto pepper, one ditto sulphur, and keep in a bottle carefully stopped. This mixture should be dusted over the infected parts, and repeated whenever or wherever the enemy shows itself.

If persisted in for some time the mixture rarely fails to effect a perfect cure; and it has the further good property of acting as a more deadly poison to cockroaches, etc, which have quite disappeared in the collection at Knypersley since this mixture came into frequent use. Besides the above annoyances, the red spider and the brown scale are frequently injurious, but never except in cases of gross neglect.

4th. Give the plants a season of rest. Without a season of rest most plants will not live at all, and others do so very imperfectly. It is easily accomplished in a variety of ways, either by moving the plants from the warmer to the cooler end of the house, or by diminishing the quantity of water, or by placing them in a cooler house. Even exposure in a hot dry atmosphere, although it scorches their leaves, not unfreqently throws them into vigorous flower. Plants from the East Indies and from other climates, where the extremes of drought and wet are not felt so severely as in Brazil or Hindostan, require a season of rest proportionally short, and of a less decided character.

"5th. Attend to the condition of the air. In winter, 60° to 65° is a wholesome temperature for most of the species; in the summer it may rise to 70° or 75°, or even higher if derived from the heat of the sun. Where there are two houses, the warmer one should not be lower than 70° even in winter, but fortunately there are comparatively few kinds that insist upon so hot a berth.

"The air should always be soft and nearly saturated with moisture. The latter should, however, be prevented from dripping upon the plants as it condenses, and this is easily effected by fixing a small copper pipe or piece of channeled wood under each rafter and sash-bar, to catch and carry off the water.

"6th. Bo not over-water. This a beginner is very apt to do, and a grievous fault it is. When plants do not shrivel or flag, it is a sign that they are content with the humidity that the atmosphere of the house supplies. When watering is necessary, it should not be done indiscriminately, but according to the wants of particular plants. It is also of great importance to use rain water only, which may be collected for the purpose in a tank, as shown in the plan of Mr. Rucher's house, and which should not be applied of a temperature below 60°.

"Syringing in moderation maybe had recourse to in hot weather. Some of the sobralias, together with bromheadia palustris, grow more vigorously if their pots are set in saucers of water during the summer months.

"To the foregoing rules the following advice may be added. Do not aim at having too large a collection, but rather strive to grow a few good kinds in the best style".