FOTTIXG AXD SOIL. 



337 



and so as to be scarcely perceptible, by fastening the pseudo-bulbs to the 

 stick, which need not rise above their tops. Care should also be taken 

 in potting that the fleshy, tender roots be not broken, and also that the 

 turfy mould be laid over them in rather an open, loose manner, to allow 

 the roots to find an easy passage through it, as well as the superabundant 

 moisture to escape. Many species of Orchideae like to be planted on the top 

 of a Uttle pile or hillock, as it were, formed of turfy matter, considerably 

 above the top of the pot, from whence they will send down thek roots in 

 quest of nourishment, while the crown or main body of the plant remains 

 high and dry, and, therefore, safe from the effects of damp. 



Some species prefer to be potted in moss rather than in mould, and the 

 best sort of moss for this purpose is half-decayed Sphagnum ; but the 

 kinds which prefer this medium to grow in will succeed equally well if the 

 roots be tied up in bundles of the same material, and laid on a shelf or 

 suspended from the roof, taking care to keep them sufficiently moist by 

 frequent waterings. Of those which appear to Hke this mode of treat- 

 ment we may enumerate the following, but to them it is possible that 

 many more may be added : — Vanda, Aerides, Vanilla, Sarcanthus, Saccalo-^ 

 Mum, part of Epidendrum, part of Oncidium, RenantJiera, &c. 



Many species will grow beautifully if laid or fixed to a piece of rough- 

 barked rotten wood, the rough trunks of palms, on artificial rock-work, 

 &c., according to the fancy or taste of the owner, all that is required 

 being, to secure a httle moss kept damp to their roots until they have at- 

 tached themselves to the material upon which they are placed. The 

 Vanilla and some others we have observed growing luxuriantly in this 

 way/, but it is more a matter of taste, and of displaying their natural 

 habits, than one of nursery culture, as the plants become so firmly at- 

 tached to the material as not very readily to be separated fi'om it. The 

 species which admit of this mode of culture, as-well as of the last, may 

 be equally well grown in baskets of wicker or wire-work, and suspended 

 from the roof, and in this state while in bloom are exceedingly beautiful 

 ornaments to bring into the dramng-room, where they may remain 

 uninjured while they remain in bloom. 



The late Mr. Gattley, who was. a very successful cultivator of some 

 species, had a box twenty or thirty feet in length suspended from the 

 rafters of his stove ; this box was filled with decayed wood, and the 

 surface covered with green moss : in this the plants were set, and flourished 

 exceedingly. Such a box, were it extended the whole length of a plant 

 stove close to the back wall, and at a sufficient distance only from the 

 glass to admit of head-room for the plants, would contain a xery pretty 



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