162 
ORCHIDACEOUS HOUSE. 
be given to them, and it will facilitate their 
rooting ; but the hardier kinds of plants must 
not be too long subjected to it. As soon as 
they are fairly rooted, such cuttings should 
be potted off into single pots in soil proper 
for them ; and they require a little nursing 
just till they strike root afresh, when they 
may be gradually hardened off to bear the 
treatment proper for their respective kinds. 
With many ligneous plants, propagation by 
cuttings is not so easily rendered successful ; 
indeed, there are plants that cannot be made 
to root in this way with anything like facility, 
and with which even the most clever propa- 
gators often fail. In selecting cuttings, they 
should always be taken from healthy plants ; 
and usually they will root most readily when 
they are in an intermediate state between the 
immature texture of new-born development, 
and the consistency and ripened condition of 
maturity. What are called half-ripened shoots 
generally take root with the greatest facility, 
though there are exceptions to this rule. 
Cuttings from side shoots near the ground, 
usually root better than those from the sum- 
mit of the plant, or the tops of the branches. 
As to the precise season, the condition just 
noticed will be found to exist with many 
plants about this time of the year; with others 
that are not so, a proper condition of the cut- 
ting is more important than any peculiar season 
of the year. In preparing the cuttings, it is 
desirable, as already hinted at, to cut them 
through at the joint ; and it is desirable, also, 
not to remove more leaves than is absolutely 
necessary. Where the leaves are of moderate 
size, and not too closely situated, the lowest 
pair is quite sufficient to be removed. Those 
kinds which are difficult to root, should be 
covered with a bell-glass : they are to be 
planted in pots of sand, prepared by half 
filling them with potsherds, on which a little 
sandy soil, of the kind suitable for the plant, 
may be placed, and the pot then filled up with 
silver sand in a damp state, pressed quite 
firm. As the cuttings root better when planted 
against the pot than when placed merely in a 
mass of soil, it is a common practice to insert 
a small empty flower-pot in the centre, around 
and against which the cuttings are placed : 
this pot may be filled with water, if necessary, 
the bottom being corked up, and the moisture 
will then pass gradually through the sides of 
the pots, and refresh the cuttings. Plants that 
root freely do not require so much care. The 
management of cuttings after they are planted, 
depends on the general principle, that when 
life. is weak, all excesses of exterior agency 
must have a tendency to render it extinct : 
too much light, air, water, heat, or cold, are, 
therefore, alike injurious to them ; and the 
care they require, is, by means of shading, and 
I keeping them covered with bell-glasses, to 
: preserve them, as far as possible, in a steady 
and uniform condition, as regards these ele- 
ments of growth. 
ORCHIDACEOUS HOUSE. 
As the growing season advances, the con- 
venience of having two separate structures for 
these plants will be felt more powerfully than 
during the winter months. The greater part 
of the Indian species will be more or less in a 
growing state, and then require the greatest 
degree of heat which is given to these plants, 
and very abundant moisture. Such atmo- 
spheric conditions, however, are by no means 
favourable to the preservation of plants in 
bloom, nor yet to the maintenance of dor- 
mancy among those that now are, and require 
to be, at rest. 
Temperature, cj'C. — The growing plants re- 
quire a day temperature of from 70 to 80 
degrees, by sun-heat, or even more ; at night 
it may fall to 60 degs. with advantage. The 
plants at rest, and those in bloom, do not re- 
quire any increase of warmth beyond that 
which has been formerly recommended, (see 
pp. 12, 58, and 104.) As regards ventilation, 
and the application of moisture, the directions 
at p. 104 may be still followed with advantage. 
Simmons' Hygrometer is a useful instrument 
for the orchidaceous house, equally so as a 
thermometer. 
Sliading. — These plants require shading 
during the time the sun is very powerful, for 
most of them, though not all, naturally grow 
more or less in the shade. It matters little 
what means of shading is adopted, provided 
it is effectual to the exclusion of the fierce 
rays of the sun. Some employ a thin mat, 
just thrown over the roof of the house for an 
hour or two daily, when necessary : this does 
very well for very small houses, but is incon- 
venient for houses of larger size. The latter 
are often shaded by thin canvas mounted on 
rollers: this plan is very effectual, and possesses 
every facility that could be wished ; but then it 
is, of course, some expense to have properly 
fitted up. A more economical, and equally 
effectual, though less tidy plan, is to place 
straw ropes, such as are used for protecting 
wall trees, at a short space apart longitudinally 
over the roof: the loose projecting straws 
break the rays of the sun very effectually, 
and perhaps this plan offers as little obstruc- 
tion to light as any that has been adopted. 
In this case it remains fixed on the roof for 
the season, but the other methods are only 
resorted to when there is necessity for them. 
Renanthera coccinea. — This plant, which, 
though a magnificent one, is not a very free 
flowerer, should be grown freely in very moist. 
