WARDIAN CASES. 105 



tlie winter of 1830-31. They were then turned over to my manage- 

 ment, when I considered myself placed in a similar situation to a pliysician 

 wlio is called in when the disease appears incurable. I let them stand 

 in that deplorable condition all winter, and in the month of March I 

 turned them out of the tubs, and put them in pots from eight to ten 

 inches in diameter, (the trees were four feet high.) I used turf-soil where 

 sheep were folded at night, which had been previously prepared some 

 months before for pines, to this I put a third part of decayed leaves. 

 I placed a handful of broken potsherds at the bottom of each pot to 

 give a good drainage ; water being allowed to stagnate, it soon destroys 

 the health of tlie plant. Orange trees like a humid atmosphere. The trunk 

 of those under my care were dry, and had what gardeners term a hide- 

 bound appearance, which is the case witli all imported from abroad 

 that I ever saw ; to remedy this, I tied damp moss round all the trunks 

 from the surface of the pots up to the branches, and cut in the young 

 MOod to two or three eyes ; I then set them in a vinery, in which the 

 temperature was about sixty degrees. The moss round their stems I 

 kept constantly damp by syringing it every morning ; by these means, 

 together witii occasionally steaming the house, I had the great satis- 

 faclion of observing the trees prosper, and by the end of July they had 

 made a quantity of fine young shoots ; I then removed them to tlie 

 greenhouse, where they matured their wood, where they still remain, 

 in as good health as I could wish, and several of them finely in bloom 

 at this time. 



I do not admire the practice of purchasing imported orange trees, 

 for after all trouble and expense, they often become sickly, disappoint 

 the proprietor, and cast reflection on the judgment of the practical gar- 

 dener. If strong, healthy orange trees are wished, the best plan I 

 know of is to raise the stock from seeds, and graft or bud them when 

 two or three years old ; these will be found more hardy, and suitable 

 to the climate of Great Britain. 



WARDIAN CASES. 



The chief element of success in growing plants in these, it is ob- 

 served in tlie Horticultural Mcif/azine, consists in making a suitable 

 selection, and introducing them at the proper season ; next to this, 

 stand arrangement, and thorough cleanliness. The plants most 

 suitable are such as various amnials, cacti, ferns, lycopodiums, and 

 orchids, in general avoiding very free and rapid growing kinds. Tlie 

 best mode of arrangement is, to have in the centre a rustic branch 

 reaching to the top of the case, and fixed at the bottom ; to this branch 

 (or tree in miniature) the orchids may be attached. The surface may, 

 tliroughout, have an irregular rocky character, and here ferns and 

 lycopodiums may be planted. The arrangement of tiie plants may 

 often be changed, so as to give variety. Thunbergias are found to do 

 admirably in these cases; sow a few now in a hot-bed for that purpose. 

 Cacalias, mesembryanthemums, cacti, and similar plants do pretty well 

 in small pots, amongst soil containing lime rubbish well drained. Ly- 

 copodiums and ferns, which are perhaps the best suited of any, may be 



