1333] THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. 339 



lament except by way of preparation for another year. Manure can^J 

 <jp be placed on the ground wherever required, and asparagus beds, if °(j 

 / not already done, should have a slight covering of it. Bean poles, \ 

 pea brush, and stakes of all kinds should be got now, the tool house 

 gone over, and put in order, and everything kept in good order and 

 studiously in its place. When the season of operations commences 

 there will then be nothing to hold back our attention. Where there 

 can be a heat of 60° commanded Busk Beans can be easily grown 

 in pots, and can be gathered in two months from ihe time of sowing. 

 It there is an abundance of leaves or manure at command, and small 

 frames, beds may be put up t for early spring salads at the end of the 

 month. Radishes and Lettuce are however very impatient of too 

 much heat — they will come on well if the temperature be kept at 

 45°. When it goes above that the sashes should be lifted entirely 

 off. The same remarks apply to the Potato, and the early Horn Car- 

 rot. Cauliflowers in frames require all the air possible. Never al- 

 low them to become dry, this is the cause of many failures by way 

 of "buttoning orf." * T. J. 



The Aerial Roots of Orchids of the Tropics. 



(From a Paper by Dr. W. H. de Vriese, Reg. Bot. Prof., Leyden.) 



The so-called Orchids do nof, like true parasitic plants (as Viscum, 

 Loranthus, Kafflesia, Balanophora, Khopalocnemis,) subsist on the sap 

 of the plants to which they are attached, and in which they take root ; 

 but on the nourishment they gather from the atmosphere in which 

 they extend, or spread out th^ir generally silver white roots. Hence 

 botanists have given them the name of air-roots, in opposition to 

 others which grow in the ground. Such are to be found among the 

 genera Aerides, Vanda, Saccolabium, of the damp and hot parts of 

 India; Schomburgkia, of the woods of Honduras and Guiana; the 

 superb Lsdias of South America; the many-formed Epidendrum of 

 the South American islands; the beautiful and sweet smelling 

 Stanhopeas, &c. 



In the cultivation of these plants, the natural means of growth 

 must be imitated as near as possible. If they be treated as terrestrial 

 Orchids, a failure will be the result. These grow under quite different 

 circumstances. It is worthy of remark, that a peculiar apparatus is 

 required to promote the. growth of each of these sorts of plants. 



The air-roots of the parasitic Orchids of the tropics have a forma- 

 tion quite peculiar to them. We shall endeavour to point out its 

 l chief characteristics. It may serve, if need be, to show the intimate t 

 Q-_, connection between theory and practice. The roots which penetrate C P 

 '•-the ground, and thence derive their necessary sustenance, are com-J^J 



% 29v- . -*m m 



