56 



THE GARDENER. 



[Feb. 



stock is rapidly got up. The tall Sempervivunis and ^l^oniums are 

 multiplied from young side-slioots, which strike freely at any time of 

 the year in a gentle heat. Most of the Echeverias can be raised from 

 seed as easily as any tender annual ; while some of them, such as 

 E. secunda, make offsets freely. Plants of E. metallica, E. secunda, 

 kept in and impregnated when in bloom, swell seed-pods rapidly; and 

 if the seed is sown in early spring and pushed forward in heat, fine 

 plants can be had the same season. Agaves are increased more slowly 

 by offsets or suckers formed round the base of stronger plants. All 

 these fleshy plants do best when kept comparatively dried off in the 

 winter, except when it is desirable to keep them in heat to increase 

 them, when they grow more freely Avhen kept moderately moist. 



In order to still further illustrate the way in which the following list 

 of plants may be effectively grouped in a different way, and especially 

 when only one large bed can be conveniently devoted to them, we give 

 the following fig. G, and ways of planting it : — 



The broken line — 6 — if made up of small plants, Patchyphytum 

 bracteatum, would look exceedingly well ; or the finishing plant to 4 



