Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/245

Rh The Sarracenias are natives of the North-American continentsome of them (S. purpurea, most certainly) range as far north as Canada; but for the most part they inhabit the warmer parts of the temperate zone, and are always found in bogs. Thus we have a key to their culture, for nature sorts her plants into their suitable zones and climates, and we have but to take notice of the way she places them. It is certain that nature does not stew these plants in such a steam as the hottest of the orchids thrive in; yet many of our amateurs think there can be no place hot enough for them, and the consequence is the plants have no beauty, and, instead of spreading fast and forming great tufts, they dwindle away and are pronounced difficult plants to cultivate. The soil generally used is peat, and, as a rule, this cannot be surpassed, though the beautiful S. variolaris may be grown in pure sphagnum, in the coolest and airiest part of the stove; and an admixture of soft stone with the peat or sphagnum is useful. The orchid grower will understand their requirements when advised that the soil which suits a Cattleya will suit a Sarracenia.

They require a certain degree of warmth with air, but must never be exposed to wind, more especially a drying wind, nor, as before remarked, to a great heat. They must have water, and they must have light. Shading is most injurious, and quite destroys the beauty of the pitchers. The best way to dispose of them is to place them on a shelf of an intermediate house or warm greenhouse, very near to the glass. S. purpurea does not need so much heat as even an intermediate house, and. it may be grown as well in a frame as a greenhouse.

It is essential to keep these plants cool in winter, that they may rest naturally, as they do in their native bogs, where they are sometimes subjected to much coldto freezing, in fact; though such as S. variolaris will not bear frost when under cultivation, and at all times needs more warmth than the others. A moist air is good for them at all times. All about them should be frequently made wet, to cause a plentiful dew; ndand [sic] as to what they stand on, let it be a solid bench, not a bed of soil or a trellis, for in either of such positions they may be subjected, to excess of evaporation from the too rapid movement of the air around them. Keep in remembrance that they are bog plants; they stand in water, they