Tresidcnt's Address. 239 



should not be very heavy. Constant attention to pinching 

 or stopping the young growths is also essential. The most 

 vigorous growing plants often fail to develop pitchers, on their 

 leaves, which end in at endril only. The explanation I offer 

 of this is that such plants are depending exclusively for their 

 nourishment on their roots. For, when checked by being cut 

 down, the young shoots then produced develop pitchers at the 

 end of almost every leaf. This seems to be a return to the 

 juvenile condition, for we have seen that seedlings at first pro- 

 duce pitchers only. Confining the roots in small pots or baskets 

 has a similar effect, the more they are cramped at the roots 

 the more pitchers are developed. That the pitchers play an 

 important part in the economy of the plant, and that animal 

 matter is absorbed by them, is beyond doubt. It sometimes 

 happens, however, that the pitchers capture too much and 

 decay sets in from excess of animal matter contained in them. 

 This has given rise to the notion, somewhat prevalent among 

 cultivators, that the capture of insects is injurious rather 

 than beneficial to pitcher-plants. Such occurrences are 

 exceptional and are simply cases of over-feeding. My 

 experience in the matter is, that the capture of insects is of 

 great value in the cultivation of pitcher-plants. It by no 

 means follows that the plants would not grow if all insect or 

 animal matter were excluded from the pitchers. I think, 

 however, that it would be most unwise to treat them in this 

 way seeing that they thrive so much better on a mixed diet. 

 The fluid secreted by the pitchers should not be interfered 

 with or emptied out, as the pitchers remain in good con- 

 dition so much longer when this is attended to. Highly 

 coloured pitchers are generally the largest, and the species 

 producing these, in all likelihood, stand highest in the scale, 

 probably from their being more attractive to insect life, and 

 consequently better fed. Green-colouied pitchers, on the other 

 hand, are usually small, and may be looked upon as the 

 lowest in the scale. It is gratifying to find that the 

 cultivation of species of Nepenthes is very much on the in- 

 crease throughout the country, and that the beauty, singularity, 

 and, above all, the wonderful adaptation in form which they 

 manifest, are becoming more and more appreciated. 



