January 3.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
187 
plenty of unobstructed light, and so placed that they 
should he beloiv rather than above the eye of the 
spectator. There will also he this advantage, that 
the lower part of the plant will he concealed, which 
can with difficulty he made to look handsome, unless 
it has been well stopped, and had abundance of room. 
In such a warm greenhouse as we have indicated, 
however, the plants will ho very attractive for several 
weeks. In treating it entirely as a stove plant, it 
becomes a mere work of routine. In using it for 
conservatory decoration, there will he no difficulty, 
if any means exist for procuring more heat in spring 
and autumn, than can be found in a common green¬ 
house, as during summer plenty of heat can he ob¬ 
tained in a cold pit by merely keeping it rather close. 
For the satisfaction of those who wish to give it a 
trial, it may he useful for them to know that young 
plants generally present the most brilliant appear¬ 
ance. When their beauty is departed, the plants 
may he placed in a corner out of the way—allowed 
to get rather dry—cut down within two or three eyes 
of the old wood, just before the buds begin to break 
in spring, say March—the wounds allowed to heal 
and dry—water then to be given to the roots—when 
the buds have fairly broken, shake away the most of 
the old soil, and repot with fresh earth, using sandy 
loam and peat, with a little leaf-mould and pieces of 
charcoal-—set the plants in a good growing heat, if 
plunged at first in a cucumber-bed all the better— 
stop several times during July—syringe and water 
during the season, and harden oft’ as it advances. 
The parts cut off are not to be lost, as already 
stated ; they make rather the best plants. Cut them 
up into as many cuttings as you require—forget not 
to be generous after being just; let them dry for 
three or four days; strike then in sandy soil, in a 
nice bottom-heat, under a glass; and then pot, shift, 
&c., the same as for older plants. 
Euphorbia Jacquiniosjlora. —This belongs to the 
same natural group as the last. The generic name 
was given in honour of a celebrated physician of 
antiquity. Its striking beauty consists in the scarlet 
sepals of the calyx, which are clustered together into 
racemes at the end of the pliant shoots, that bend 
down scarcely sufficiently to expose their splendour. 
On this account it is advisable to have the plants 
young and dwarf, that the masses of bloom may be 
seen below the eye. It will stand longer in the con¬ 
servatory than the last, and, upon the whole, is easier 
managed. A similar treatment as respects resting 
cutting down, stopping, and propagating, will answer 
admirably, only it requires a more sandy turfy peat, 
and will not dislike some bits of charcoal, and some 
broken bricks. Even when in its dry state, neither 
it nor its predecessor should be much exposed to a 
temperature under 45°. It must have no resting 
time during the summer, if good plants are to be 
obtained from cuttings in spring; a nice moist bot¬ 
tom heat to start them with will be of great import¬ 
ance. I must leave to younger and more poetical 
heads the task of expatiating upon its fitness for 
decorating and wreathing the glossy ringlets of their 
lady-loves. Robert Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACEAI. 
Section III., Part 2nd : Moisture. —Under this 
head we shall first notice watering with the garden 
pot; secondly, with the syringe; and, thirdly, giving 
moisture to the air. Each of these points must be 
attended to by the beginner. There is aright way 
of doing every thing, and no other way will answer 
so well. Of course, this rule applies to watering or¬ 
chids as well as to every other operation in garden¬ 
ing. We believe we practice the right way, and 
shall endeavour so to describe that practice as to 
make it easy to be followed by those to whom it is 
unknown. 
Watering with the Garden-pot. —As a general rule, 
let it be laid down never to water an orchid except 
it requires it; therefore, in commencing to water, 
observe each plant well, but quickly, and water ac¬ 
cordingly. The question may here very properly be 
asked, when does an orchid require watering? The 
answer is, when it is growing and dry. The quan¬ 
tity to be given depends, again, upon the stage of its 
growth. If the young shoots and new roots are 
just beginning only to make their appearance, they 
require a very moderate quantity; but as then the 
plant ought to be repotted, and the new fresh com¬ 
post is or should be moist of itself, the water must 
be withheld until the surface, at least, feels quite dry 
to the touch. Again, the water should be applied at 
a small distance from the young shoots, which ought 
never to be saturated, or even wetted, especially 
either in the dark cloudy days of winter or of early 
spring. In summer, when the heat is increased, the 
sun shining, aud air given, the operator need not be 
so nice, as the extra water will soon evaporate, and 
dry up even from the young and tender shoots. 
When the young shoots begin to form pseudo-bulbs, 
the quantity of water may be increased, care being 
taken that it does not lodge in the leafy sheaths 
which surround the green or young bulbs, especially 
of Cattleyas. We have often seen a year’s growth 
destroyed by allowing the water to lodge in those 
tender parts. The way to remedy this is with a sharp 
knife, or a small pair of scissors, to slit open to the 
bottom the sheaths that hold the water, but this is 
an operation that must be done very carefully, with¬ 
out injuring the young pseudo-bulb, or the cure will 
be as bad as the disease; for, if you wound a pseudo 
bulb, ten to one it will perish. As soon as these 
sheaths turn yellow, and not before, they may be en¬ 
tirely removed safely. When in that state they will 
easily part from the bulb without injuring it, if 
carefully pulled off. 
The garden watering-pots we prefer are used both 
with and without roses. The rose should be used 
when the plants are newly potted, and afterwards for 
such as are in large pots and have partly formed 
their pseudo-bulbs. The kinds of rose also require 
some consideration. They ought to be quite flat, and 
thickly pierced with holes, and those rather larger 
than ordinary, to let the water flow freely. When 
the spout only is used, it should have the hole at the 
end smaller than ordinary for the purpose; this is 
to enable the waterer to apply that liquid in just such 
quantity as the plant requires. When the growths 
are young, whether the water is applied with the 
rose or spout alone, it will generally be quite suffi¬ 
cient to wet the earth, or compost, only round near 
the edge of each pot. If the water is poured indis¬ 
criminately all over the surface of the compost, espe¬ 
cially in the early season of the year, the consequence 
will be to endanger the young shoots. At that season, 
and in that state, if the water is slushed upon the 
plants, it will cause several, if not all, of the tender 
young growths to perish ; but as those growths begin 
to approach their usual size, and the warm, long, 
sunshiny days prevail, that is the critical or very 
time orchids require an abundance of water—you 
