200 
HINTS ON THE CULTURE OF G ESN ERA ZEBRINA, 
they grew the previous year, merely putting a little fresh mould on the outside. 
This may not be a common practice, but we are satisfied that it exists. A Ges- 
nera, after it loses its stems, is set on a shelf or other dry place in the stove, and 
the earth about becomes completely hardened aud unfit for the new roots to enter 
in the spring. When excited, it is watered a little ; and the soil, thus partially 
softened, is left unchanged, or simply the external coat removed, and a small 
portion of new compost put in its place. The proper plan is to take away all or 
nearly all the old earth, and give the young roots a compost into which they can 
instantly strike, without impediment or interruption, and with the certainty of 
receiving congenial food. 
What else is most wanting in the culture of this species and its allies, is a 
duly moist atmosphere. Kept in a partially dry stove, their natural succulence — 
which is so closely connected with their beauty that the one cannot be diminished 
without lessening the other — is so repressed that they cannot expand themselves 
favourably. All their features acquire an unhealthy cast, and wear a displeasing, 
pale, impoverished hue. A humid house, scarcely less so than those devoted to 
Orchidacese, is most suitable to Gesneras ; and nothing can atone for the lack of 
a moisture produced by evaporating water, save the exhalations from fermenting 
bark. 
The mention of the last named substance leads us to observe that bottom-heat, 
produced by it, or by manure or leaves, is especially grateful to Gesneras ; as it 
gives them the humidity they need in a perpetual and unvarying manner, and 
affords that stimulus, in respect to warmth, which all plants, of succulent habits, 
delight in while growing. 
Though affecting, naturally, secluded and shady places, for the most part, this 
genus does not succeed best in a darkened house, or one which has a northern 
aspect. Much light, and closeness to the glass, are, however, on no account to be 
furnished. If potted in a tolerably rich soil, such as we have given an analysis of, 
an w^ell watered in summer, while their pots are plunged in moist bark, or other 
such material, they will thrive most vigorously in a stove with the ordinary aspect, 
which is not shaded, except by a few climbers in the interior. Direct light will 
never harm them, unless the atmosphere be too hot or dry. 
Perhaps the simplest, and readiest, and fittest mode of growing them would 
be to keep them in a hot-bed frame till they are about to flower. The closeness, 
and heat, and humidity, which exist in such a situation, will be in the highest 
degree propitious to their advancement ; and as they will unavoidably be close 
to the glass, a little shade, by thin canvas, may not be unserviceable in sunny 
w r eather. In potting them, they may be placed at once in a pot of the size 
requisite for the whole season, provided they are watered at first with extreme 
care, so as not to make the soil " sour." If frequent shifting be preferred, the 
progress of their roots should be watched, and directly they appear on the outside 
of the soil, they ought to be transferred to a fresh pot. So delicate are their 
