DEC 



OEC 



to carry in garden watering-pans, these 

 pots being kept constantly full of warm 

 water are always ready. 



Syringing in Winter. During the j 

 dark days of winter, the operation of j 

 syringing requires considerable judg- | 

 ment. A large number of orchids will | 

 be at rest, requiring but little water, 

 especially those in pots. Others, on 

 logs, must be syringed on such morn- 

 ings as the sun is likely to shine. 

 There are, however, a few plants, even 

 in pots, that are much benefited by the 

 free use of the syringe at all seasons 

 of the year. Hnntleya violacea and H. 

 meleagris are two plants much improved 

 by this mode of treatment; and the 

 reason they are so improved is evident 

 enough, when we consider the situation 

 in which they grow naturally. Dr. 

 Schomburgh found them growing on 

 moist rocks, near to a cataract, on a 

 river (Essequibo, we believe) in British 

 Guiana. 



All the Indian tribes that have no 

 pseudo-bulbs require more syringing 

 in winter than those that have such 

 reservoirs of vegetable life to sustain 

 them. The generic or family names 

 of such as we mean are Aerides, An- 

 graecnm, Phaltenopsis, Rcnanthera, Sac- 

 colabium, Sarcanthus, and Vanda. All 

 these have a simple stem, clothed with 

 leaves. If exposed to a high dry heat, 

 the leaves and stems will shrivel much 

 more than is beneficial to their health ; 

 therefore, whenever a shrivelling is 

 perceived, let them have a gentle sy- 

 ringing, thoroughly wetting the whole 

 plant. This will revive them, and keep 

 them fresh and healthy. 



Syringing in Spring and Summer. It 

 is during these two growing seasons 

 that the syringe is most beneficial, and 

 then they should be deluged almost 

 with showers from the syringe, taking 

 the precaution to allow them to become 

 dry once a day. They are sure to 

 become dry enough during the night. 

 Let the water from the syringe be 

 milk-warm rain water, and let it fall 

 gently upon the plants ; thus imitating 

 natural showers of rain as much as 

 possible. We have found the plants 

 much refreshed in summer by .a gentle 

 syringing, when it was actually raining 



out of doors. In truth, if such a thing 

 could be managed, we should be glad 

 to expose them, during the gentle warm 

 showers of April, to the rain that falls 

 from the clouds. We are quite sure it 

 would do them good. It is, however, 

 the plants on logs that benefit most 

 by the use of the syringe, both in 

 winter and summer. Of course, they 

 require the most when they are making 

 fresh roots and growths ; but even 

 when at rest they must be syringed 

 occasionally, to prevent the roots and 

 pseudo-bulbs from shrinking too much. 

 In that state, the finest- rosed syringe 

 must be used, to prevent so much water 

 falling upon the plants (if any) below. 

 During the seasons when the syringe 

 is used most freely, should any of the 

 plants have perfected their growth, and 

 consequently require less water, place 

 such in a corner of the house by them- 

 selves, and syringe them less fre- 

 quently. Towards the end of summer 

 the whole of the plants ought to be 

 perfecting their growths, excepting the 

 Indian ones above-mentioned, and the 

 Huntleyns. These grow, more or less, 

 all the year, but others must have an 

 entire rest ; therefore, cease syringing 

 so much as soon as you think there 

 is a fulness and ripeness about the 

 pseudo-bulbs, showing that they have 

 made the growth for the year. If you 

 continue syringing as much as ever, 

 there is danger of starting them again 

 into growing prematurely, and then you 

 will have weak, puny shoots, and injure 

 both the flowering and growth for the 

 ensuing season. It is impossible to 

 give any particular time when to cease 

 syringing, or watering at the root witli 

 a garden pot : experience and observa- 

 tion must guide the cultivator. In 

 general, we may say the quantity of 

 water, whether applied with the garden 

 pot or syringe, ought to be considerably 

 lessened towards the end of summer 

 that is, about the end of August. The 

 pseudo-bulbs ought to be then fully 

 formed ; and, whenever that is the 

 case, they require much less water. 

 By the middle of October, the water 

 ought to be entirely withheld, excepting 

 just enough to prevent the plants from 

 shrivelling. 



