in the days of my apprenticeship i put up a big greenhouse: unable to manage plants in the open-air, i expected to succeed with them under unnatural conditions! these memories are strung together with the hope of encouraging a forlorn and desperate amateur here or there; and surely that confession will cheer him. however deep his ignorance, it could not possibly be more finished than mine some dozen years ago; and yet i may say, je suis arrivé! what that greenhouse cost, "chilled remembrance shudders" to recall; briefly, six times the amount, at least, which i should find ample now. and it was all wrong when done; not a trace of the original arrangement remains at this time, but there are inherent defects. nothing throve, of course—except the insects. mildew seized my roses as fast as i put them in; camellias dropped their buds with rigid punctuality; azaleas were devoured by thrips; "bugs," mealy and scaly, gathered to the feast; geraniums and pelargoniums grew like giants, but declined to flower. i consulted the local authority who was responsible for the well-being of a dozen gardens in the neighbourhood—an expert with a character to lose, from whom i bought largely. said he, after a thorough inspection: "this concrete floor holds the water; you must have it swept carefully night and morning." that worthy man had a large business. his advice was sought by scores of neighbours like myself. and i tell the story as a warning; for he represents no small section of his class. my plants wanted not less but a great deal more water on that villainous concrete floor.
despairing of horticulture indoors as out, i sometimes thought of orchids. i had seen much of them in their native homes, both east and west—enough to understand that their growth is governed by strict law. other plants—roses and so forth—are always playing tricks. they must have this and that treatment at certain times, the nature of which could not be precisely described, even if gardening books were written by men used to carry all the points of a subject in their minds, and to express exactly what they mean. experience alone, of rather a dirty and uninteresting class, will give the skill necessary for success. and then they commit villanies of ingratitude beyond explanation. i knew that orchids must be quite different. each class demands certain conditions as a preliminary: if none of them can be provided, it is a waste of money to buy plants. but when the needful conditions are present, and the poor things, thus relieved of a ceaseless preoccupation, can attend to business, it follows like a mathematical demonstration that if you treat them in such and such a way, such and such results will assuredly ensue. i was not aware then that many defy the most patient analysis of cause and effect. that knowledge is familiar now; but it does not touch the argument. those cases also are governed by rigid laws, which we do not yet understand.
therefore i perceived or suspected, at an early date, that orchid culture is, as one may say, the natural province of an intelligent and enthusiastic amateur who has not the technical skill required for growing common plants. for it is brain-work—the other mechanical. but i shared the popular notion—which seems so very absurd now—that they are costly both to purchase and to keep: shared it so ingenuously that i never thought to ask myself how or why they could be more expensive, after the first outlay, than azaleas or gardenias. and meanwhile i was laboriously and impatiently gathering some comprehension of the ordinary plants. it was accident which broke the spell of ignorance. visiting stevens' auction rooms one day to buy bulbs, i saw a cattleya mossi?, in bloom, which had not found a purchaser at the last orchid sale. a lucky impulse tempted me to ask the price. "four shillings," said the invaluable charles. i could not believe it—there must be a mistake: as if charles ever made a mistake in his life! when he repeated the price, however, i seized that precious cattleya, slapped down the money, and fled with it along king street, fearing pursuit. since no one followed, and messrs. stevens did not write within the next few days reclaiming my treasure, i pondered the incident calmly. perhaps they had been selling bankrupt stock, and perhaps they often do so. presently i returned.
"charles!" i said, "you sold me a cattleya mossi? the other day."
charles, in shirt-sleeves of course, was analyzing and summing up half a hundred loose sheets of figures, as calm and sure as a calculating machine. "i know i did, sir," he replied, cheerfully.
"it was rather dear, wasn't it?" i said.
"that's your business, sir," he laughed.
"could i often get an established plant of cattleya mossi? in flower for 4s.?" i asked.
"give me the order, and i'll supply as many as you are likely to want within a month."
that was a revelation; and i tell the little story because i know it will be a revelation to many others. people hear of great sums paid for orchids, and they fancy that such represent only the extreme limits of an average. in fact, they have no relation whatsoever to the ordinary price. one of our largest general growers, who has but lately begun cultivating those plants, tells me that half-a-crown is the utmost he has paid for cattleyas and dendrobes, one shilling for odontoglots and oncidiums. at these rates he has now a fine collection, many turning up among the lot for which he asks, and gets, as many pounds as the pence he gave. for such are imported, of course, and sold at auction as they arrive. this is not an article on orchids, but on "my gardening," or i could tell some extraordinary tales. briefly, i myself once bought a case two feet long, a foot wide, half-full of odontoglossums for 8s. 6d. they were small bits, but perfect in condition. of the fifty-three pots they made, not one, i think, has been lost. i sold the less valuable some years ago, when established and tested, at a fabulous profit. another time i bought three "strings" of o. alexandr?, the pacho variety, which is finest, for 15s. they filled thirty-six pots, some three to a pot, for i could not make room for them all singly. again—but this is enough. i only wish to demonstrate, for the service of very small amateurs like myself, that costliness at least is no obstacle if they have a fancy for this culture: unless, of course, they demand wonders and "specimens."
that cattleya mossi?, was my first orchid, bought in 1884. it dwindled away, and many another followed it to limbo; but i knew enough, as has been said, to feel neither surprised nor angry. first of all, it is necessary to understand the general conditions, and to secure them. books give little help in this stage of education; they all lack detail in the preliminaries. i had not the good fortune to come across a friend or a gardener who grasped what was wrong until i found out for myself. for instance, no one told me that the concrete flooring of my house was a fatal error. when, a little disheartened, i made a new one, by glazing that ruelle mentioned in the preliminary survey of my garden, they allowed me to repeat it. ingenious were my contrivances to keep the air moist, but none answered. it is not easy to find a material trim and clean which can be laid over concrete, but unless one can discover such, it is useless to grow orchids. i have no doubt that ninety-nine cases of failure in a hundred among amateurs are due to an unsuitable flooring. glazed tiles, so common, are infinitely worst of all. may my experience profit others in like case!
looking over the trade list of a man who manufactures orchid-pots one day, i observed, "sea-sand for garden walks," and the preoccupation of years was dissipated. sea-sand will hold water, yet will keep a firm, clean surface; it needs no rolling, does not show footprints nor muddy a visitor's boots. by next evening the floors were covered therewith six inches deep, and forthwith my orchids began to flourish—not only to live. long since, of course, i had provided a supply of water from the main to each house for "damping down." all round them now a leaden pipe was fixed, with pin-holes twelve inches apart, and a length of indiarubber hose at the end to fix upon the "stand-pipe." attaching this, i turn the cock, and from each tiny hole spurts forth a jet, which in ten minutes will lay the whole floor under water, and convert the house into a shallow pond; but five minutes afterwards not a sign of the deluge is visible. then i felt the joys of orchid culture. much remained to learn—much still remains. we have some five thousand species in cultivation, of which an alarming number demand some difference of treatment if one would grow them to perfection. the amateur does not easily collect nor remember all this, and he is apt to be daunted if he inquire too deeply before "letting himself go." such in especial i would encourage. perfection is always a noble aim; but orchids do not exact it—far from that! the dear creatures will struggle to fulfil your hopes, to correct your errors, with pathetic patience. give them but a chance, and they will await the progress of your education. that chance lies, as has been said, in the general conditions—the degree of moisture you can keep in the air, the ventilation, and the light. these secured, you may turn up the books, consult the authorities, and gradually accumulate the knowledge which will enable you to satisfy the preferences of each class. so, in good time, you may enjoy such a thrill of pleasure as i felt the other day when a great pundit was good enough to pay me a call. he entered my tiny odontoglossum house, looked round, looked round again, and turned to me. "sir," he said, "we don't call this an amateur's collection!"
i have jotted down such hints of my experience as may be valuable to others, who, as juvenal put it, own but a single lizard's run of earth. that space is enough to yield endless pleasure, amusement, and indeed profit, if a man cultivate it himself. enthusiast as i am, i would not accept another foot of garden.
