10 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



11 Leaves alternate ; petiole winged at the base, the mid-rib prolonged at the tops and 

 curved, or spirally twisted, and terminating in a second foliaceous expansion, which is 

 hollowed like an urn (the pitcher), to the opening of which is fitted a sort of lid, attached 

 as by a hinge, and capable of being lowered or raised, so that the pitcher is sometimes 

 closed, sometimes open. It is often found to contain a watery liquid before the raising 

 of the lid." 



Nepenthes are not difficult to cultivate ; and well-grown examples, suspended from 

 the roofs of plant stoves are among the most attractive occupants of the house. They 

 can be raised by sowing seeds on the moistened surface of a mixture of fibrous peat and 

 sphagnum moss in a heavily drained pan, covered with a bell-glass, and placed in a moist 

 frame heated to a temperature of 80° to 90°. If the compost is kept moist without 

 dislodging the seeds they should germinate in about a month from the time of sowing. 

 After several leaves appear, carefully place the seedlings singly in small pots, and when 

 the plants are large enough transfer them to baskets, adding a little turfy loam to the 

 above compost. 



Cuttings of one-year-old growths of Nepenthes produce roots freely if inserted singly 

 in small pots, using the mixture advised for seedlings, and partially plunging the pots 

 in cocoa-nut fibre refuse over a hot-water tank in a propagating case, kept close, and 

 a temperature of 80° to 85° maintained. Some experts have been very successful by 

 a simpler method, namely, inverting empty flower-pots on the warm, damp bed of fibre, 

 into which the rims are slightly pressed down. The lower ends of the cuttings, divested 

 of leaves, are pressed through the apertures of the pots down to the fibre, and the warm, 

 moist air incites the emission of roots from the stems. The plants are then placed in 

 pots, preparatory to establishing them in baskets, for producing bold, healthy leaves with 

 their wonderful marbled terminals — appropriately termed pitchers — which constitute 

 the beauty of the plants, and not the flowers, though these are not without interest, 

 while distinctly serviceable in the production of seed. 



For promoting full growth, a porous, yet somewhat more substantial, compost than 

 previously advised is employed. A generally suitable mixture is found in two parts of 

 fibrous loam and one each of turfy peat and sphagnum moss, with the addition of a little 

 broken charcoal and sharp gritty sand. The plants thrive in a warm moist atmosphere 

 with shade from the sun. From March to September copious supplies of tepid water are 

 required for keeping the material in the baskets moist, though it must not be made sour 

 by excess. Syringing is usually necessary twice a day during the summer, reducing the 



