AlfD CONSERVATORY. 227 



The Sarracenias are natives of the North-American con- 

 tinent — some of them (S. purpui^ea, most certainly) range as 

 far north as Canada ; but for the most part they inhabit the 

 warmer parts of the temperate zone, and are always found in 

 bogs. Thus we have a key to their culture, for nature sorts 

 her plants into their suitable zones and climates, and we have 

 but to take notice of the way she places them. It is certain 

 that nature does not stew these plants in such a steam as the 

 hottest of the orchids thrive in ; yet many of our amateurs 

 think there can be no place hot enough for them, and the 

 consequence is the plants have no beauty, and, instead of 

 spreading fast and forming great tufts, they dwindle away 

 and are pronounced difficult plants to cultivate. The -soil 

 generally used is peat, and, as a rule, this cannot be surpassed, 

 though the beautiful S. variolaris may be grown in pure 

 sphagnum, in the coolest and airiest part of the stove ; and 

 an admixture of soft stone with the peat or sphagnum is use- 

 ful. The orchid grower will understand their requirements 

 when advised that the soil which suits a Cattleya will suit a 

 Sarracenia. 



They require a certain degree of warmth with air, but must 

 never be exposed to wind, more especially a drying wind, nor, 

 as before remarked, to a great heat. They must have water, 

 and they must have light. Shading is most injurious, and 

 quite destroys the beauty of the pitchers. The best way to 

 dispose of them is to place them on a shelf of an intermediate 

 bouse or warm greenhouse, very near to the glass. S. pur- 

 purea does not need so much heat as even an intermediate 

 house, and. it may be grown as well in a frame as a green- 

 house. 



It is essential to keep these plants cool in winter, that they 

 may rest naturally, as they do in their native bogs, where 

 they are sometimes subjected to much cold — to freezing, in 

 fact ; though such as S. variolaris will not bear frost when 

 under cultivation, and at all times needs more warmth than the 

 others. A moist air is good for them at all times. All about 

 them should be frequently made wet, to cause a plentiful 

 dew ; nd as to what they stand on, let it be a solid bench, 

 not a bed of soil or a trellis, for in either of such positions 

 they may be subjected, to excess of evaporation from the too 

 rapid movement of the air around them. Keep in remem- 

 brance that they are bog plants ; they stand in water, they 



