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MANAGEMENT OF THE GENUS JESCHYNANTHUS. 



avoiding all shade from sunlight. During the season of growth, 

 moisture must be freely supplied by syringing, and when the 

 plants have become duly established, each log or support should 

 be taken down and immersed in water once or twice a week. As 

 the plants attain mature growth, the water should be enriched with 

 liquid manure in the proportion of one gallon to four, or one 

 handful of guano to four gallons of water. The first season 

 should be devoted to growth alone, and the plants should be ex- 

 cited to bloom in the following one. As the stronger growing 

 species of xEschynanthus are very sparing in lateral growth, 

 attention must be paid to shortening the extremities of each 

 shoot when 6 or 8 inches in length, taking off at least two joints. 

 When the growth has again branched off to four or six joints, 

 and the terminal leaves are approaching mature size, water 

 should be gradually lessened in amount (but not in quality), in 

 order to ripen the growth ; and as the latter manifests a uniform 

 and proportionate vigour, the plants should be gradually re- 

 moved for a few weeks to a lower temperature, say from ten to 

 fifteen degrees, and placed in a position well exposed to light ; 

 and such varieties as bloom the following season may be finally 

 placed in a cold close pit or greenhouse, and preserved from 

 currents of cold air, water being applied once in ten days or a 

 fortnight until it is desirable to excite them to bloom ; such as 

 flower in the current year may be retained in a dry warm 

 greenhouse. 



The second mode of culture is that with respect to their 

 growth in pots, and in this way alone can uniform and perfect 

 growth be obtained in connexion with equal success in bloom ; 

 for when so treated, greater uniformity of moisture can be main- 

 tained, and there is less evaporation by exposure to the atmos- 

 phere. Though excessive vigour of growth may be generally 

 regarded as unfavourable to fertility, yet it is only so when the 

 growths are badly ripened, which is generally the case. The 

 greatest vigour of which plants are capable may be rendered 

 favourable to bloom by a due appropriation of the elements 

 essential to fertility in the proper season. 



In pot-culture there are two ways in which these plants may 

 be successfully grown — first, by using soil ; and, secondly, by 

 substituting sphagnum and decayed branches, &c. ; and as each 

 method possesses its peculiar interest, I will consider them sepa- 

 rately. The soils most suitable are coarse vegetable composts, 

 varying to almost all mixtures from pure unmixed heath-mould 

 to all the medium qualities of leaf-soil, decayed branches, sphag- 

 num, and small portions of sandy loam, but all requiring to be 

 so arranged as to admit a full but uniform distribution of moisture, 

 both by ample bottom-drainage and by a regularly porous texture 



