258 



Greenhouse and Stoce Plantf<. 



NEPENTHES. 



of a span-roofed house, standing ends north 

 and south, with their shoots within 1 foot 

 or so of the glass, lowering the pots as the 

 tops advance, and giving a thin shade when 

 the sun comes on them, but none at other 

 times. If suspended alike up to the roof 

 in a hip-roofed or lean-to structure facing 

 south they will require a thicker shade in 

 bright weather, but this will be easily seen, 

 as if they get too much sun the leaves will 

 assume a deep crimson colour instead of 

 being green tinged or mottled with red, 

 which latter is an evidence of the robust 

 health essential to the full development of 

 the pitchers that should be produced at 

 the extremity of every leaf. When all the 

 cultural conditions requisite for their well- 

 being are present, even the leaves of N. 

 Eafflesiana, and others of like habit, that 

 are made slowly through the autumn and 

 winter, will, in the spring, when more heat 

 is present, open the small pitchers formed 

 during the dull season. We have been 

 particular in describing somewhat in detail 

 the appearance and necessary condition of 

 the roots of the plants, as also the position 

 in the house they require to be grown in 

 and their disposition to pitcher freely, for 

 the presence of these in a large and highly 

 coloured state is the certain test of the 

 plants having all they want ; in this con- 

 dition, thus suspended where an oppor- 

 tunity exists of exhibiting to the full their 

 most singular beauty and graceful habit, it 

 will we think be admitted that there are 

 none in the whole range of cultivated 

 plants more generally interesting or more 

 deserving of a place. The conditions 

 necessary to grow Cucumbers well in the 

 winter, viz., heat, humidity in the atmo- 

 sphere, and very little direct admission of 

 air, will be found such as to well suit 

 Nepenthes ; a night temperature at this 

 season of 65° will answer, with a few 

 degrees higher in the day, more or less 

 proportionate with the state of the weather ; 

 at the same time most of them will bear as 

 much heat as any plants in existence. The 

 air of the house must never be allowed to 

 get dry, and for some twelve weeks in 

 vpinler they will need no shade or any air 

 mOi e than reaches them through the laps 

 of the glass and other similar places of 

 ingress. They should at this season be 

 watered at the root every other day, and 

 syringed oveihead ; through the spring 

 and summer water at the root and syringe 

 every day, keeping them as warm day and 

 night as the means at command will per- 

 mit. Through May, June, July, and 

 August the night temperature should be 

 70°, with 10° or 15° higher by day, and 

 never admit so much air, especially 



I directly on the plants, as most things will 

 I bear ; give shade as already spoken of. A 

 j warm moisture-laden atmosphere must 

 always be present, and plenty of tepid 

 water to the roots is indispensable to their 

 healthy existence. This obviously renders 

 an abundance of drainage in the pots 

 necessary. 



It is a healthy sign of improved taste in 

 horticulture to see beauty and singularity 

 of form being appreciated as much as colour 

 alone. That this is so, is evident from the 

 increased sale for such plants as Nepenthes, 

 the cultivators of which through the king- 

 dom at one time might be counted on the 

 fingers, but which, to supply the demand, 

 those who grow them for sale have now to 

 propagate by thousands. 



Nepenthes can be raised from cuttings 

 made of pieces of the stems, such as available 

 when the plants are headed back ; these 

 should consist of a couple of joints each of 

 mature growth, with all, or a portion of 

 the leaf retained to the upper joint. They 

 root best when inserted in some open 

 material such as a mixture of small crocks 

 and sand ; covered with a bell -glass in a 

 bottom heat of 70° or 75°, kept close and 

 moist, they will root in the course of two 

 or three months. They will strike at any 

 time of the year under the above conditions. 

 When struck they must be placed in 3 or 

 4 inch pots, in a mixture of the best fibrous 

 peat, potsherds, sand, and chopped 

 sphagnum, and great care should be taken 

 not to break the fragile young roots ; keep 

 them moderately close until they begin to 

 grow. These pots will be large enough for 

 the first year, and the spring following give 

 them others 1 or 2 inches larger. All 

 necessary in the subsequent stages of their 

 growth is to give more root-room each 

 spring as the plants get larger, cutting them 

 back, when a height of 2| feet or so has been 

 reached, to 6 or 8 inches above the collar ; 

 this will generally cause them to break two 

 or three shoots from near the base. Treat 

 afterwards as already advised, giving a 

 little more root-room when this seems 

 requisite, and repeating the cutting back 

 when the shoots have again attained a 

 height of 2^ to 3 feet. It is from the 

 growth made after this second heading in 

 that the finest examples may be looked for, 

 as now they will push enough shoots to 

 produce quantities of pitchers. The plants 

 will last many years, and can be kept in a 

 healthy state hy removing the old exhausted 

 soil in the way already shown, as often as 

 it appears to be approaching a soft pasty 

 state. This operation is best carried out 

 at the time the plants are headed down. 

 Nepenthes ai'e oftener grown in baskets 



