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 Mossiæ_, 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