i8gs. 



GARDENING 



39 



\'cntilate with two 3V2x3V2 feet ventila- 

 tors on top. Have door in middle of 

 south end as you show. A nice inside 

 arrangement would be a 2-fect wide 

 bench in front, then a 2-feet path, and a 

 H-feet wide beneh at back and about 4 to 

 <■> inches higherthan the front one. About 

 the gas stove for heating, much depends 

 upon its perfect condition— gas fumes arc 

 so detrimental to plants. Keep a wide 

 pan of water sitting on top of it all the 



HOW 1 GROW CflCTl. 



The illustrations herewith presented 

 have been engraved from photographs of 

 two of my grafted cactus and a night 

 liloomingcactus (Phyllocactus latifrons). 

 I n grafting I selected both pereskia and 

 columnar cereus stocks, and grafted them 

 with Bpiphyllum tritncatum at the same 

 time, and as they are now about three 

 vears old, it is interesting to note the 

 difference in the growth, the one making 

 a thick bushy head, while theotherhangs 

 ill long graceful branches. Both are very 

 satisfactory to me, bloom profusely, and 

 have been very much admired. The plants 

 ,nc now in 1(1 .-uul 12-inch pots, respect- 

 ively, wliich will give a very fair idea of 

 t lie size of the heads, the larger plant is 

 supported by a heavy iron stake, while 

 the smaller or columnar stock has no 

 support whatever. 1 have several other 

 fine grafted cactus, among them, one, 

 a columnar stock, three feet high, 

 grafted with Epiphyllum truncatum at 

 the top and twice on the sides at inter- 

 vals of twelve inches, which gives it a 

 very fine appearance; it was a mass of 



PHYLLOCACTUS LATIFRONS BY FLASH LIGHT. 



bloom for mor- than two months, during 

 the past winter. 



The picture of the night blooming 

 cactus was taken by flash light, in my 

 library August 30 last, as it had ten fully 

 developed flowers in one night, I thought 

 it worthy of note. .\t various times dur- 

 ing the summer it has borne six flowers, 

 and the night following the one on which 

 the picture was taken, the bud on the 

 lower left hand side opened. I mention 

 the fact, to cfill attention to the rapidity 



at this period. There are still a number 

 of buds on the plant, which is now about 

 seven years old, and is a fine specimen, 

 measuring nearly five fiet from the pot 

 to the top of the specimen. It has a 

 tendency to throw out long shoots, which 

 I keep pruned off", the result a jipears to be 

 beneficial to the plant and keeps it sym- 

 metrical. 



During the summer, 1 set the plants out 

 in the open air, on the north side of a 

 tight board fence in the shadow of tail 

 maple trees, in which posit on they 

 receive little or no sun; the light however 

 is good and they have plentv of air, and 

 this appears to be the place best suited to 

 their requirements. Two years ago I 

 placed them in a position where they had 

 the full benefit of the direct sunshine, from 

 early morning until two o'clock in the 

 afternoon; the result was the leaves were 

 sunburnt— turned yellow, and I had very 

 few flowers, in fact 1 nearlj' ruin il 

 my plants in my desire to "ripen the 

 wood for bloom," as I had been advised 

 to do. As the plants are in large pots, 1 



'IPHYLLUM ON PERBSKIA STOCK. 



do not plunge them, but water them well 

 every day and frequen ly twice a day, in 

 \i-rv hot dry weather. 



1 have a small greenhouse in which 1 

 winter them, in a temperature of 60°, 

 (luring which time I waterthem not more 

 than twice a week and as the da3-s 

 lengthen and the sun gets stronger, in the 

 sprin/, I shade • he glas^ and increase the 

 V ater supply, as I find they cannot stand 

 the sun that my i ther plants delight in 



The soil I useisfrommy compost pile of 

 rotted sod, manureandsand, well worked 

 together; occasionally I scatter about a 

 teaspoonful of bone meal, or some "food 

 for flowers" over the soil in the pots and 

 work it into the soil, the constant water- 

 ing carrying the nourishment down to the 

 roots. 



1 never hesitate to pinch 1 ack a branch 

 of the truncatum to bring the plant into 

 shape. These were grafted in the spring, 

 although 1 have met with the same sue 

 cess b\' grafting in the fall and winter. 

 M. H. JK. 



Altoona, Pa., September 13, LSO."). 



good man}' of the old leaves are apt to 

 turn yellow and drop off", but don't wait 

 for them to fall, pick them off as soon as 

 the yellowness shows. While free ven- 

 tilation in fine weather is good sudden 

 bursts of cold as raay be caused by open- 

 ing the ventilators wide ail at once, or of 

 heat as by shutting them too early all at 

 once, should be avoided. Cold draughts 

 of air through the greenhouse isn't good 

 for the plants; avoid draughts. Between 

 now and New Years we can economize in 



BPIPHYLLUM ON ( 



the matter of fire heat; after that when 

 fresh growth begins again we must give 

 a little more warmth. 



Don't let any fallen flowers lodge on the 

 leaves of tuberous or other begonias, as 

 they very soon rot a hole in them. The 

 tu'ierous varieties perfect their seeds very 

 well this month; pick all the ripe seed 

 pods from the good varieties and save it 

 for sowing a month or two hence. 



If you cannot give the Lady Washing- 

 ton geraniums a place on the bench set 

 them at the front or under benches; after 

 the chrysanthemums are past most likely 

 room will be more plentiful. As the leaves 

 die off" the amaryllises remove them for 

 neatness' sake. 



Look out for mealy bugs on old plants 

 from out of doors in the summer time; 

 they generally go down about the roots, 

 but when brought indoors in fall they get 

 up from the ground and infest the tops. 



What lovely little flowers those of the 

 hybrid streptocarpuses are. They are 

 blooming aiid seeding now. Save the 

 seed and sow it, for the plants are really 

 beautiful and free flowering. Don't roast 

 the callas; although they luxuriate in the 

 open a'r in full sunshine, a very thin shade 

 in the heat of the day helps them con- 

 siderably. 



Dig up and pot for winter forcing 

 deutzias, spira;as and other neat, free 

 hard}' shrubs. 



Read the greenhouse notes of last issue, 

 tliev are timelv vet. 



THE GREENHOUSE. 



(".reenhouse plants of .-dl kinds sliouf 

 now be indoors, snug and comfortable fo 

 the winter. Keep thcni rigidly cle.-in. . 



FIRING fl SMALL GREENHOUSE. 



.\ reader writes: "I have a small 

 detached span-roofed greenhouse, heated 

 by an ordinary coal stove set under the 

 middle bench at one end, and a string of 

 sheet iron smoke pipe run under the beneh 

 from the stove to the chimnev at the 



