170 DENDROBIUM PAXTONI. 
insert any further remarks. In our August number (p. 146) we were led to notice 
a small group which requires little more than aerial support, or merely a slight 
covering to the roots for the retention of moisture. D. Paxtoni belongs to a very 
different class ; and, besides its great height demanding some substance in which 
to fix the stakes needful for maintaining its erectness, the roots are more tender, 
and must be completely enveloped in moss or soil. 
In the management of this and other similar species, where they can readily be 
slung from the roof of the house, the practice of placing them in rustic wooden 
baskets, with openings between the bars both at the sides and bottoms, is eminently 
calculated to prove successful. These receptacles should be filled principally with 
moss and such-like matters, because materials of this nature will allow water to 
pass through more freely, and protect the roots equally as well as heath-soil, 
without possessing its more retentive properties. By being suspended, and open at 
the sides, such baskets likewise preclude the accumulation of an undue supply of 
moisture, and render it much more easy to preserve a proper degree of drought 
(i. e. a medium between excessive aridity and too great dampness) during the 
annual period of repose. 
We have repeatedly advocated the propriety of subjecting Dendrobia to an 
unusual degree of periodical dryness, and there cannot be a doubt that D. Paxtoni 
has been induced to flower so early after its arrival in this country in a sickly state, 
entirely through the cautious application of that principle. Similar, and even 
more unequivocal confirmations of the utility of such a course have recently 
crowded upon our attention, which naturally impart greater force and urgency to 
our recommendation of it to those who have yet doubted its appropriateness. 
