wedge ; I then make an incision in the angles or top of the stock, with a pointed 

 stick made the same shape as the scion. When the grafts are first put in, to pre- 

 vent their slipping out, I pass through each a small wooden peg or the spine of a 

 thorn ; I then cover each with a small piece of moss, and place them in a shady 

 damp house, and syringe them over the tops occasionally in the evening ; they 

 will all adhere to the stocks in ten days or a fortnight, and make good plants by 

 winter. By ingrafting the finest kinds of Cacti on the stocks that I recommend 

 above, noble specimens can be grown in a few years from one to ten feet high if 

 required ; and the size and color of the blooms are much superior to what they 

 ever produce when grown on their own roots. E. truncatum, by the above treat- 

 ment, becomes quite a hardy greenhouse plant, and -will bloom three months later 

 than it does when grown in the stove on its own roots in the usual way." 



Mr. Henry Ford, another successful grower, gives the following detailed account 

 of his practice : " Last year, having several plants of Pereskia aculeata, from 

 eight to ten feet high, which had previously been grafted at the top with Cereus 

 flagelliformis, I inserted at various heights upon the latter grafts of different kinds 

 of Epiphyllum, such as Ackermanni and truncatum, with Cereus speciosus and C. 

 triuraphans. The beauty, in June last, of a plant of this kind, which had been 

 grafted in the previous autumn, I cannot describe. In grafting them, I make, 

 with the point of the knife, an incision upwards, into which I insert small grafts, 

 pared a little on both sides, of the kinds required. A small piece of matting is 

 bound round the wounded stem, to keep the grafts tight until they have taken 

 hold, which generally is the case in three weeks' time ; the bast is then untied. 

 Where room is no object, I think it preferable to graft E. truncatum upon spe- 

 cimens by itself, as it flowers in the autumn, whereas the other kinds bloom in the 

 spring and summer. The pendulous habit of Cereus flagelliformis allows of its 

 being trained in any form, according to the fancy of the owner. I have grafted 

 Cacti at all seasons of the year, but I find that the best time is from the end of 

 September until November ; probably owing to the plants being in a more 

 dormant state. I apply no fire to the house during this period, unless to dry up 

 damp or exclude frost. One specimen of Pereskia aculeata, nine feet high, which 

 was grafted two years ago with E. truncatum, the grafts being inserted three 

 inches apart, along the whole height of the stem, and alternately on each side, 

 has now the appearance of a pillar, and in about six weeks' time will be covered 

 with many hundred flowers. It is advisable, in grafting these plants, to insert the 

 scion upside down, especially if worked upon the main stem ; in which case I 

 remove a small piece of the bark from the stock, and fit a thin piece of the desired 

 kind upon it. If this is bound up so as to prevent air from entering between the 

 parts, it will take quite as well as if grafted in the usual way. Where this opera- 

 tion is performed upon spurs, the latter should be trained downwards previously 

 to being grafted, otherwise the grafts, especially those with fleshy leaves, are apt 

 to break off when they attain to any size. I have also grafted E. truncatum 



stock of Cactus Braziliensis, which makes an excellent standard, as from 



