132 
THE JES CHYNA^ THUS. 
is to be kept moistened by occasional syringing. 
It the plants are placed in open baskets, they 
should be planted amongst lumps of charcoal, 
and turfy portions of peat soil, about the size 
of walnuts, mixed with sphagnum moss cut 
moderately fine, and a little leaf-mould ; and 
this material must be placed together loosely in 
the baskets: the plants should be planted rather 
shallow. When the baskets are made of wire. 
either copper or the galvanized iron wire should 
be used, as the common iron wire soon corrodes. 
Of wooden baskets, those formed of bamboo rods 
are the neatest, and most durable ; but if this 
material is not available, such as oak or hazel 
rods will do, but they are the better for being 
slightly charred, as this prevents their rapid 
decay. "When they are grown in pots, a soil 
similar to that recommended for baskets must 
be employed, and the pots must be well 
drained, thus : — a smaller pot nearly as large 
as can be got to stand in the bottom, is to be 
inverted in the larger pot, and around this 
pieces of broken crock, or charcoal, or both 
mixed, are to be filled in nearly level with the 
inverted pots ; on this, the soil and the plants, 
potted rather high, are to be placed. Young 
plants may be raised in the spring, and are 
best kept in pots, potted in soil similar to that 
already recommended, but made a little finer 
to suit the size of the pots they are growing 
in, and with the addition of a portion of 
rotten wood. When they are well established, 
or by the following March, they can be trans- 
ferred either to the blocks, baskets, or to larger 
pots for blooming : in either case the old soil 
should be removed from about their roots, and 
carefully replaced by some in a fresh state. 
When grown permanently in pots, the plants 
may be fastened to a rough block of wood, 
and this placed in the pot, and filled round 
with the materials already named. We have 
seen them grown very successfully, managed in 
this way. When the plan of growing them 
attached to blocks of wood is preferred, the 
plants require dressing before they are excited 
to grow each year ; the old moss should in 
great part be removed from the roots, and 
replaced by fresh ; any decaying roots or 
branches should be cut away, and in case there 
may beany straggling shoots which destroy the 
symmetry of the plants, this is the proper 
period to remove or cut them back. 
Sometimes the walls of the orchid house or 
stove are covered over with plants, or in other 
cases there exists a portion of rustic work, or 
rock work within the house ; for such situa- 
tions, the JEschynanths would be exceedingly 
appropriate, and under such circumstances 
they would have a fine effect ; in this case, 
their branches would be allowed to hang in their 
natural character, entirely without restraint. 
When introduced in this way, they should be 
attached to large pieces of rough bark fastened 
to the wall or rock, and may be supplied with 
a small portion of sphagnum moss. 
The natural habit of these plants is depen- 
dent, and they look best when allowed to 
assume this habit unrestrainedly, for then the 
branches hang over and conceal the pots or 
baskets in which they are growing, and the 
position assumed by the flowers has a more 
natural and elegant appearance than under any 
other arrangement. This plan is, however, 
inconvenient in the case of large plants, when 
it is required to remove them from one place 
to another ; and hence, when they are in pots, 
the branches are sometimes disposed over a 
roundish trellis, and when they are not too 
rigidly trained in, they look very well in this 
way : sometimes also, they are slightly sup- 
ported by a few stakes, and made to form the 
outline of a dense bush ; and when grown in 
this way, if the points of the young shoot have 
their liberty, so as to fall into something like 
their natural curves, the effect is very good ; 
those kinds which possess the most decidedly 
branching habit are most proper for this mode 
of training. 
The orchid house, or where there is no 
such place, the stove, or stove pit, is the pro- 
per habitation of the JEschynanths. The con- 
ditions which are kept up in an orchid house, 
viz. vigorous heat and abundant atmospheric 
moisture without exposure to cold draughts, 
exactly suit them when in a growing state. 
In the summer, when they are blooming freely, 
they may be kept in a somewhat drier atmo- 
sphere, such as a warm greenhouse, which 
would be very suitable for them then; and in the 
winter, when they are in a state of inactivity, 
they may be kept comparatively dry, and in a 
cool part of the stove, or even in a good green- 
house. In the growing season they should 
be syringed with tepid water once or twice a 
day, and kept moderately moist at the root ; 
and when in bloom and removed to a drier 
atmosphere, they must be kept regularly sup- 
plied with water. In removing them at this 
period of their development, the change 
must not be too suddenly brought on them, 
but by degrees. 
All the species propagate readily by means 
of cuttings planted in sandy peat soil, and 
plunged in a gentle bottom heat. "When 
young the plants should be freely stopped to 
secure a proper number of branches to form a 
handsome plant. 
In no genus has there been such an acces- 
sion of new and beautiful species during the 
past year as in the iEschynanthus, and with 
these additions it offers a very tempting in- 
ducement to amateur cultivators who delight 
in taking up and patronising particular fancy 
genera. There seems no reason why hybrid- 
