220 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTtEMAH, JaNUAby T5, 1861. 
hot-water pipes all round, and just as wholesome for the 
plants, as far as he could make out from their appearance. 
What seems strange, after our attempts at Polmaising, 
is that the cold air in the conservatory does not require 
drawing off, nor hinder the access or force of the current of 
hot air. There are two brass stars, or circulars, fixed at 
one end of the house, in the Stone which forms the paths 
of the conservatory, through which the currents of hot 
air rise ; and these currents, when the ventilator below is 
full open, are sufficient to agitate crinoline dresses passing 
near them : but there are no attendant disagreeables, and 
there is no apparent sense of the air being too dry, or 
in any way to differ from the usual run of hothouses, 
although no means are taken to soften it by evaporating- 
pans or other plans. But in using this system for early 
forcing and for stove heat, the air-chambers would nece - 
sarily require to be made much hotter than they need be 
for the safety of greenhouse plants, and in that case no 
doubt evaporating-pans would be requisite to keep the 
air moist enough for free healthy growth. 
At all events, this is a most simple plan for all green¬ 
house and conservatory work, a very safe and cheap one, 
and a great stride for the amateur. To prove that on the 
spot, the second conservatory at the same place, and 
which is less than the one which is heated by the hot-air 
system, has cost in coals during the last month just four 
times more, by the old flue system than the other, and 
the trouble of attendance on the fire is twice as much 
against the flue. Think, also, of a first-class gardener, 
after satisfying himself with two seasons’ experience, 
making up his mind to do away with the old flue system 
after this winter, and taking to the warm-air circulation 
instead and in preference to any other system to which 
he has been used, after having had as much practice, anti 
more extensive commands, than even your humble servant 
But, as I have just said, let us wait as we are till he see 
this, and hear what he himself has to say about it, or i 
he has any suggestions for an improved application o° 
the system. D. Beaton. 
STOVE ORCHIDS. 
{Continued from page 210.) 
EXTEA POINTS OP CULTIVATION. 
Undue this head I have to describe some peculiar methods of 
growing a few species which I would not notice in the general 
instructions before given. 
Camaeotis puepueea. —A most beautiful species, introduced 
by Mr. Gibson from the foot of the Khoseea Hills in India. The 
best way to grow it is to procure a straight, thick branch of Oak, 
and tie round it a thick covering of long moss, and then tie 
several shoots of the Camarotis round it. The shoots send out 
roots, which soon lay hold of the moss, and root into it pro¬ 
digiously. During the growing seaason the plant should be 
kept very moist with the syringe: it will grow stronger by this 
treatment than by any other. It should then have a period of 
rest, and will flower in the spring most profusely. 
Cattleya citeina. —Here, again, is a lovely fragrant flower: 
the plant that produces it requires a peculiar treatment, which 
if not given the plant will die. That treatment is in accordance 
with the habit of the plant in its mode of growth. The gene¬ 
rality of even Orchids send their shoots upwards; but this 
species sends them downwards : hence it is necessary to humour 
it by fastening it on a log with the last-made pseudo-bulb under¬ 
neath. So placed on the log, the plant appears to the un¬ 
initiated to be, as it were, turned topsy-turvy, or upside down. 
I have proved, however, repeatedly that grown in any other way 
the plant will not long survive such wrong treatment. In every 
other point of culture treat it the same as its congeners. 
Epidendeum bicoenutum. — This fine species when well 
grown is almost as handsome as a Phakenopsis ; but it is a 
rather delicate plant. The only way I could succeed with it 
was to place it on the upper end of a thickish, round, short 
branch cut level, and fasten it to the block with fine wire, on a 
thin bed of moss. When grown in a pot or on a log in the 
ordinary way the young shoots invariably perished, and in time 
the plant died, as a matter of course; but when planted on the 
top of a branch the young shoots grew and perfected pseudo¬ 
bulbs, which in due season flowered well. The branch was not 
suspended, but placed upon a shelf not far from the glass. 
Epidendeum ehizophoeum. —This species has very long, 
slender shoots, and the brilliant flowers are produced near the 
top. To bring them within view the plants should be grown in 
a wide, shallow basket lined with moss, and filled with the usual 
compost. Then every shoot should be bent down, and coiled 
round and round within the basket, which should be suspended 
near the glass. In time there will be a dense mass of shoots, 
the ends of which will just turn up a few inches, and thus when 
in flower there will be a large number of umbels of scarlet 
flowers truly splendid. It is a hardy species, and will bear a 
low temperature in winter when at rest. 
L.elia supeebiens. — Another odd-growing species. The 
peculiar treatment that it needs is simple enough. It neither 
requires a pot, a basket, or a log. All that is needful is to sus¬ 
pend it from the roof without anything at all but the wire to 
hang hy. In that way the large splendid specimen lately in the 
gardens at Chiswick was cultivated, and no plant ever grew 
better, or produced finer flowers and new pseudo-bulbs annually. 
Whoever procures a plant of this fine species should profit by 
this example, and treat his plant in that peculiar way. 
Papiiinia ceistata. — A West Indian plant, producing 
large and beautiful flowers. It requires a peculiar treatment to 
grow it well. Take a wide, shallow pot, drain it well; then 
have ready a number of square-cut pieces of fibrous peat; with 
these form a wall, as it were, on the margin of the pot, and fill 
in the inside with rough peat and sphagnum moss ; then place 
round a second layer of the square pieces, drawing them a little 
inwards, and fill up again with the compost. Proceed so till the 
space at the top is just large enough to hold the plant; then 
place it on it, and fix it there with more square blocks of peat. 
It will then stand upon,as it were, a pyramid of peat, and will 
soon grow quickly and flower freely. So placed it will bear a 
free supply of water, which it needs to grow satisfactorily. It 
is a lovely species, worthy of all care. 
Renantheea coccinea. —An old, well-known plant, and very 
splendid when in flower, in which state, through mismanage¬ 
ment, it is rarely seen. It may, however, be flowered annually 
if the following culture is adopted. I suppose the reader has 
a large plant that seldom, if ever, blooms. In April procure a 
large wide-mouthed pot, and also three or five long branches of 
Oak, or the common Acacia, or branches of Cork—any of these 
will answer. If the plant is small, three branches will do; if 
large, five may be necessary. These branches should be six or 
eight feet long. Fix them in the pot firmly by packing round 
them broken pots mingled with sphagnum moss ; tie them to¬ 
gether fast with some strong wire at the top ; then take the 
plant with all its roots entire, cut into lengths, and place them 
round the branches at equal distances, fastening each to each 
corresponding branch. Do this just at the commencement of 
the growing season. Place the pot then in a situation where it 
will not be knocked over, and where it will have plenty of light and 
air. Eeep it freely syringed, and in a warm temperature—say 
from 70° to 80°. It will grow freely, and produce short joints 
and large healthy foliage. Towards the end of summer reduce 
the heat, and give less water, in order to check growth, and give 
a degree of rest. It may not flower the following season, but 
by giving liberal treatment that year, and a rest in the winter, it 
will almost be certain to bloom every year afterwards. Renan- 
thera blooms generally in the autumn. 
Scuticaeia Steelii. —In order to grow and flower this fine 
plant it should be fastened to a thick, short log, and that log 
placed just with a pot filled with moss. Its long leaves grow 
downwards, hence it is necessary to suspend the pot and log 
from the roof of the Orchid-house. The stems are short, and 
on them the large cream-coloured flowers, blotched with crimson, 
are produced. It is a native of Demerara in the hottest part: 
hence it requires a hot damp atmosphere when growing, and 
should be liberally syringed when in that state. It, however, 
should be kept drier, and cooler during the resting season. 
Yanda teees. —This species has round leaves placed on an 
upright, slender stem, from which, towards the top, the large, 
handsome flowers are produced. In order to form a bushy 
plant the long shoots should be shortened into lengths, and 
trained upwards, either to an upright round trellis or to a stout 
branch. The shoots should be placed round the support at 
equal distances. The lower parts of the shoot will soon break 
