240 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 13,1894. 
»rt. A little reflection will serve to show that such results have 
obtained, by workers who have thus employed their leisure, who 
have found in their hobby a compensation balance to the whirr of 
factory wheels, a relief to the severe strain imposed by city life— 
that rest and relief which Nature alone can give.—E. K., Dublin. 
NEPENTHES. 
At no distant date these very ornamental plants were in great 
/equest, and eagerly sought after in private gardens for suspending 
from the roof of stoves and other houses kept for show purposes. 
Daring the past few years there appears to have been but little de¬ 
mand for them, and Orchids and other flowering plants have largely 
taken their place. No douht the demand for flowering plants may 
probably be attributed as the main cause. Whatever may be the 
cause, however, it is to be regretted if choice and interesting 
Pitcher plants should be relegated to an inferior position in our 
gardens. 
One could very well understand the general neglect of plants 
Ihat prove difl&cult of cultivation, and are either not interesting, or 
give but a poor return for the time and labour devoted to them. 
This is not the case with Nepenthes, for I have noticed that 
wherever they are well grown they find a large number of 
admirers who visit the structure in which they are suspended. 
They seem ever to be interesting from their peculiar structure and 
quaint appearance. These plants are not alone attractive in a 
suspended position from the roof of a plant house, for they can be 
used effectively in choice and picturesque groups. Even a group 
of these plants is attractive when carefully arranged with a few 
suitable Ferns and fine-growing Palms such as Cocos plumosus, 
C. Weddelliana, or Geonoma gracilis. For instance, those who saw 
the group contributed by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons at Shrewsbury 
«ould not fail to admire it as a distinctive feature rarely seen. 
When grown in private gardens, how frequently groups of these 
plants could be effectively used in certain positions and at suitable 
periods of the year, and what a change they would prove if 
freely used ! Nearly all the groups that we are in the 
habit of seeing, whether at shows or various festive gatherings, 
are of the orthodox fashion ; too much sameness about them. We 
want a change, which could be effected in a marvellous manner by 
a free and judicious use of Nepenthes. 
For several years I grew these plants largely, and had them 
juspended from the roof of a large plant stove. They are not 
difficult to grow or pitcher freely—in fact, the plants need never 
be deficient of pitchers the whole year round. All that is needed 
is care in their cultivation. To keep them liberally furnished with 
pitchers entails only a very small amount of labour. To accomplish 
this, the old system of allowing the plants to grow upright and 
attain an ungainly height must not be practised, for this results in 
no pitchers after the first few years of their existence. Once they 
begin to grow luxuriantly they cease to pitcher, and the plants are 
of no use for decorative purposes. They are liable to scale and 
thrips, but if the plants are clean to commence with and grown 
under favourable conditions they are seldom attacked by these 
pests. At one time, with the exception of N. Hookeriana, Rafflesi- 
ana, and one or two others, the Nepenthes were chiefly small 
pitchering^ kinds. The larger and more beautifully marked 
sorts now in cultivation should prove a further inducement to the 
cultivation of these plants than was the case years ago. Some of 
them are handsome with pitchers a foot or more in length. 
To grow Nepenthes well they should be afforded more light 
than was formerly given them, but not direct sunshine during the 
hottest part of the day, for this would prove injurious. I long 
since discovered that when exposed to a moderate amount of light, 
even at the expense of slightly browning the leaves, the plants 
pitchered with greater freedom. They should not be grown if 
possible under fixed shading, although they will do fairly well, but 
often grow too soft to pitcher. The temperature for Nepenthes 
ought to range from 60° to 70° at night, the lowest from the end 
of October until February. I have found that a few degrees lower 
than this during cold, severe weather does no harm, provided the 
plants are not too close to the glass. The leaves of the plants 
ought not be nearer than 18 inches or 2 feet to the glass during the 
winter months, or their growth is liable to be seriously checked. It 
is almost impossible to maintain a too close or moist atmosphere 
for the plants during the whole of the summer months, but air 
must be given in warm bright weather. They will grow freely 
enough under what may be termed a close or non-ventilating 
system of cultivation, but they will not form pitchers freely. 
A liberal supply of water is essential to the growth of these 
plants. The syringe must also be freely used twice daily, and 
even a third time during hot, bright weather, when conditions are 
so favourable to the drying of the atmosphere and the material 
about their roots. I have found that heavy syringings alone do 
not prove ample to keep the compost about large plants sufficiently 
moist, and have had to give them a thorough soaking every second day. 
during hot weather. Although Nepenthes like copious supplies of 
water they strongly resent wet and sour soil about their roots. They 
are very much like Orchids in this respect. Some years ago I 
followed the principles recommended, and used living sphagnum 
moss and peat in equal proportions. Experience, however, con¬ 
vinced me that this was not the most suitable and most serviceable 
compost for these plants. This mixture is all right for propagating 
and for giving young plants a start, but not for plants of a large 
size. I found good fibrous peat, with all the small removed, with 
a few crocks or lumps of charcoal, the most suitable material for 
them. The moss used in the compost decays too rapidly for the well 
being of the plants, the fibrous peat being far more lasting in its 
nature, and thoroughly open and porous. This is what Nepenthes 
like. Living sphagnum moss may be used on the surface and round 
the sides of the baskets for the sake of appearance, and if kept in 
a healthy condition, all other things being suitable, the plants will 
flourish. 
I have said that to pitcher Nepenthes they must not be grown 
on single stems. After the young plants are 6 or 7 inches high, 
or have made about the same number of leaves, the point of the 
growth should be removed. The shoots pinched every three or four 
leaves that they make. By this principle they are never without 
pitchers, the plants branch freely and quickly form bushes, and as 
they increase in size and strength the pitchers are also increased in 
size to the limit they are capable of attaining. I have had baskets 
of N. Hookeriana, not a solitary plant, 3 feet or more through 
them, and laden with fine pitchers. All robust growers are capable 
of attaining a similar size or larger. Some are weaker growers 
and need more care, but in a collection these are soon discovered. 
For many purposes plants of a smaller size are more useful. This 
would prove the case for effective grouping, but for suspending 
only frorh the roof of plant houses large specimens are very 
attractive. 
Propagation is very readily effected by cuttings. The shoots of 
any plant needed for stock may be allowed to extend, and the 
plant pruned close back early in March. Nepenthes bear cutting 
back without any apparent injury, and soon break into growth 
again and pitcher before the end of the season. The shoots cut off 
should be cut into lengths of two joints and inserted singly in 
22 -inch pots filled with sand and living sphagnum moss mixed 
together. The pots must be plunged either in a close propagating 
frame or under a bell-glass. After being well watered, keep 
practically air-tight, and well shaded from the sun until the cuttings 
are rooted. Brisk heat and a bottom heat of 75° to 80° is necessary 
to root them quickly, or if it can be kept at the latter all the better. 
Once the plants are growing and young growths have been made 
the most difficult part of their culture is to harden them so that 
they will bear exposure where the stock of established plants are 
grown. This is a slow, and must be a very careful, process, or the 
plants will not only flag but go off quickly after they are rooted. 
Air and light must be gradually admitted until the young plants 
will bear exposure without any trace of flagging. When they 
reach this condition they may either be placed in larger pots or 
4-inch baskets ; in the latter they entail less labour, and are, I think 
more ornamental. I have heard it said the point of the plant 
should not be inserted, as it will not root. This is pure fiction, 
because I have rooted the points just as freely as other portions of 
the stem ; but the wood must be cut where it is moderately firm, 
and as soon as rooted the extreme point should be removed. I 
have not succeeded in rooting very soft points, and do not 
recommend them for the purpose. 
The following will be found a good representative collection 
of a dozen Nepenthes :—Mastersiana, the light and dark form ; 
Mixta, Dicksoniana, Curtisi superba, Burkei, Amesiana, Morganise, 
Rafflesiana, Hookeriana, Hookeriana elongata, and Wrigleyana. 
Northiana and Burkei excellens are also two splendid forms ; the 
latter is perhaps the finest of them all. The varieties given are 
the selection with which I have again commenced the cultivation 
of these plants.—W m. Baedney. 
NOTES ON POTATOES. 
A National Potato Show. 
Havino heard many wishes expressed by persons interested in 
Potatoes for a revival in some shape of the old Potato exhibitions, 
I have to ask your consent to allow me to make widely known that 
desire through your columns, and to invite the opinions of others 
equally interested in Potatoes with respect to the suggestion. 
Should the coming Great Fruit show at the Crystal Palace become 
