ORCHIDACEOUS HOUSE. 
11 
Amaryllis. — The roots of Amaryllids and 
the allied plants, that have been dormant 
through the winter, may be brought out and 
submitted to gentle heat, and moderately 
watered. Next month, when they have made 
some growth, they should be put into larger 
pots, using a rich loamy soil. 
Russellia juncea. — To flower this very 
ornamental plant about next May, let the 
plants be now slightly pruned in, where neces- 
sary, and induced to commence new growth 
by being potted, and placed in a position 
favourable to growth. Use good turfy peat 
and loam for potting. 
LagerstrcBmia indica. — A splendid shrub, 
belongingtothenaturalorderofLythrums : may 
be treated in a similar way with good success. 
Hedychiums. — -These are Scitamineous or 
reedy plants, of noble character ; they should 
now be taken from under the stages, and 
started into growth. Give them plenty of 
pot-room, a rich, light, loamy soil ; and plenty 
of heat, light, and moisture ; and they will 
flower beautifully. IT. augustifolium, with 
scarlet flowers ; H. maximum, with white 
blooms ; and IT. coronarium, and H. Gardne- 
rianum, with flowers of a yellow colour, are 
some of the best kinds. Some of these are 
very fragrant. 
Aphelandra. — The specimen plants of 
this tine autumn flowering stove shrub, should 
be cut down towards the end of the month, 
and keptratherdryfora few weeks previously to 
their being again excited into vigorous growth. 
Justicias, Eranthemums, Poinsettias, and 
plants of this habit may be treated in a simi- 
lar way. These plants will bloom finer in the 
succeeding season, if not suffered to exhaust 
themselves in producing bloom this year. 
A few plants of Euphorbia jacquiniflora, some- 
times called E. fulgens, may also be so treated, 
and they will flower three weeks sooner next 
winter. 
Cacti. — The plants of the free-flowering 
Epiphyllums, such as speciosum, Ackermanni, 
and others, that are well furnished with flower- 
buds, may some of them be brought into the 
stove, to cause them to expand their flowers 
early. E. truncatum will generally be going 
out of bloom, and should be rested a little by 
allowing it to get comparatively dry, ami set- 
ting it in a cool part of the house ; the bright 
red, and the violaceous varieties of this plant 
contrast admirably. 
Hydrangeas. — Though not stove plants, 
these must be mentioned here. Cuttings of the 
tips of the last year's shoots, with plump buds 
at the ends, should be taken off, and planted 
singly in small thumb pots, in light soil, and 
placed in moist heat, to root them. These 
plants, if shifted when necessary, make beau- 
tiful objects in the summer. 
ORCHIDACEOUS HOUSE. 
There is no family in the vegetable king- 
dom containing so great a number of extremely 
beautiful, fragrant, and remarkably singu- 
lar looking plants, as the family of Orchids; and 
they have, in consequence, become so fashion- 
able, that it is by no means uncommon now to 
find one or even more glass structures in a gar- 
den establishment, devoted exclusively to their 
culture. Hitherto the great objection to their 
more general cultivation has been the idea 
that they could not be cultivated except in a 
very high and moist temperature — two consi- 
derations involving both expenditure and per- 
sonal inconvenience, so far as the amateur 
cultivator is concerned. As these plants be- 
come better known, it is found that while some 
of the kinds — and those exceedingly beautiful 
ones — will not succeed except in a high and 
moist temperature, there are a great number 
of others, quite enough for all ordinary pur- 
poses, that may be made to grow in a temper- 
ature but little above that required in a green- 
house, and without that incessant attention 
which the maintenance of a high humid 
temperature involves. We shall take care 
from time to time to notice these particularly. 
At this season of the year the greater part of 
the plants should not be in active growth, but 
in a resting state ; and we may take advantage, 
therefore, of the opportunity, to offer some 
general remarks on some points of treatment. 
Structures. — -For those who intend growing 
these plants, with the fullest possible degree 
of success, and who are desirous of maintaining 
a regular succession of bloom, the use of two 
separate houses is indispensable ; one to be 
devoted to the growing and flowering plants ; 
the other, to those which are in a resting state, 
and would be injured by the moisture neces- 
sary for the growing plants. This arrange- 
ment is for those who aim at the greatest 
possible success. Where those only which 
succeed in a lower temperature are grown, a 
dry green-house will be found to supply the 
place of a second house. It may, perhaps, at 
the outset be alarming to many, to refer to so 
many houses as being required for these plants, 
but in truth there is no cause for alarm, for 
beyond the heating apparatus (which could be 
a branch from that which warms some other 
structure,) the}' do not require expensive erec- 
tions ; a low, fiat, span-roofed house, with 
opaque walls, and glass only for the roof, is 
sufficient to grow them successfully ; although 
such houses do not look quite so well as those 
which have upright sashes of glass, at least on 
one side. It will thus be seen that a mere pit 
— the least expensive of all plant erections — 
will supply all the purpose of cultivating 
these plants witli facility and success ; and 
such being the case, the provision of two 
