TREATMENT OF PLANTS IN FLOWER. 15 



care should be taken in doing this that the awning rolls up 

 regularly from bottom to top. I never, however, allow the 

 canvas to be down, except when the sun is powerful, for I 

 find that too much shade is injurious to most kinds of Or- 

 chids. The awning will also be useful in the winter season 

 for covering the house during a frosty night, being a great 

 protection to those plants that are near the glass. It is 

 advisable to have a covering on the top of the house for the 

 protection of the canvas when rolled up, in order to keep it 

 from wet. 



Cisterns. 



Slate cisterns, for collecting water which falls on the roof, 

 are very important in a house. Cisterns on each side over 

 the hot-water pipes keep the water at the same temperature 

 as that of the house. If there is not room for the slate 

 cistern on the pipes, have one sunk in the middle of the 

 house. Cement tanks sunk in the house also answer the 

 same purpose. 



Treatment of Plants in Flower, and the best Mode of 

 protracting their Bloom. 



There are many Orchids that may be removed when in 

 flower to a much cooler house than that in which they are 

 grown, or even to a warm sitting-room. The following are 

 among the advantages of keeping them during their period 

 of flowering in a cool and dry atmosphere, rather than, as is 

 frequently the case, in a hot and moist house : in the latter, 

 the flowers do not last nearly so long as they do when moved 

 to a cooler house or a warm room. Perhaps there are not 

 many cultivators who have studied this point more than 

 myself, and I never found the plants injured by this treat- 

 ment. Some imagine, that if they are put in a cool place 

 they will be injured ; but this, in my experience, has not 

 occurred. During the time they are in a room, the tempera- 



