January 28, 1869. ) 



JOURNAL OB" aORTICULTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



61 



j-hadcJ Stovo if ilono eiirlier, the graft will otrike in a fow (lay«i. 

 T have sometimes grafted on a stock without roots, and struek 

 both cutting and graft at the same time. 



The Pereskia aeulcata is by no means a fast grower ; if nol 

 giown in a stovo it requires at Ir-.ist three years to become as 

 tliick as a common lead pencil, and in cither case is very Ion;; 

 and unsightly, sometimes G feet and more, so tiat ;i method ot 

 utilising it for stocks when much younger is a great boon to flie 

 groirer. Besides llic advantages above enumerated, this kind of 

 i?r;,fting when well done saves much time, as we may work a 

 branch of such size as it would have taken a year or more to 

 grow, had only a single joint been grafted as usual. 1 have 

 even succeeded in striking as a graft the accidentally-broken- oil' 

 head of a plant fully a foot in diameter. 



Next in importance to striking the graft comes the desideratum 

 of an ofKeient support. The heads of Epipliyllun^ soon become 

 top-hcavj', and mere s-takes no\er accompli.'h the pvirpose of 

 keeping them straight and steady. I have imagined and long 

 used the following support, (vhieh not only affords perfect 

 steadiness, but is also simple and cheap, and shows oft' the plant 

 to the best advantage. A diagram woiild explain it at once ; but 

 t will endeavour to do so in writing. First, 1 place my i)lants 

 ill small deal or oaken cases. I then bend an unanucaled wire 

 of the thickness of a lead pencil into the shape of an inverted 

 U, thus — n, but square at the top, the two branches rather 

 longer than the plant, which should be about 2 fi-ct. T then 

 bore two holes perpendicularly into the thickness of two opposite 

 sides of the ease, and drive into thim the two branches of the 

 n in a perfectly perpendicular position. I then make by solder- 

 ing a wire hoop, say of about 2 feet in diameter, with two wires 

 crossing each other at right angles, soldered together at their 

 junction, and also at their extremities to the hoop, which then 

 presents the aspect of a wheel with four spokes. This wheel is 

 soldered horizontally to the square end of the inverted iipiight 

 U. The whole forms a circular horizontal framework at the 

 height of the graft, perfectly firm and steady, and on this the 

 branches of the Epiphyllum lie stretched with their ends droop- 

 ing all round it. A support of this kind painted green is so 

 light that it is almost invisible, and anyone having once seen 

 the beauty of a plant trained on on?, will never again make use 

 of the unsightly and inefficient stake. 



Epiphyllums can be grafted on any species of Cacti ; but the 

 great advantage of the Pereskia aculeata over all others is that 

 ' it requires but very little heat in winter to keep it in a state of 

 vegetation. All the fleshj- Cacti, including the fleshy PerLskia', 

 such as P. subulata, P. spathulata, and P. Poeppigii, require a 

 stove to keep them vegetating at the period that Epiphyllums 

 bloom, say from November to JIarch, and so do P. Bleo, 

 P. grandifolia, P. zinniioflora, &c., and even with all the heat 

 you can give them, to water thera at the time that the Epiphyl- 

 lums require it the most involves considerable risk, and tliey are 

 almost sure to rot at their base. In fact, as applied to plants 

 for sale, they may all be considered quite useless as stocks. 



For those who would wish to try the slit gi-aft (grefl'e en fente), 

 I will mention, as a caution, that the gi'aft must be chosen 

 among such joints as are neither too thick nor too thin. If too 

 thick they keep the split ends of the stock so far apart at the 

 bifarcation, that they often dry up and die. If too thin they 

 have not substance enough left, for the joint being always more 

 or less wider than the diameter of the stocks, often fully an inch 

 — to enable the graft to be tied on, cither a triangular nick 

 must be cut away on each side of it, or a hole made on each 

 side to allow of the wool clasping the stock ; so that what with 

 the shaving-off the epidermis on each surfiice of the joint, and 

 nicking its edges, there remains but a very small amount of 

 jjulpy living matter at the place of tying, and if the operator 

 draw the wool only a little too tight, he crushes this pu'p, de- 

 prives it of its few living cells, and it dries up. — Frederick 

 Palmer, Versailles. 



MoNSTERi DELiciosA. — In the grand collection of plants at , 

 Dangstein, for which this place is celebrated, may generally be 

 seen in fruit one of those strange species of Arads called Jlon- 

 stera deliciosa (or Philodendron pertusum, as it is now named), 

 the great leaves of which are exceedingly ornamental, being 

 slashed full of holes, and their edges fringed by the broad 

 ligament-like pieces formed out of the uniform deep cuts to- 

 wards the centre or midrib. The singularity of the fruit, too, 

 is enough to make it equally attractive. It is oblong, about 

 12 or 14 inches long, rather curved, a deep sage green, marked 

 all over the surface by hexagonal meshes. These meshes. 



which are flosliy and easily separated from a soft, vinous, very 

 fragrant pulp which lies beneath them, arc the heads of so 

 many ovaries ; and so pricking are these to the tongue if it 

 comes in contact with them that the person feels uncomfort- 

 able for hours afterwards. For a little foolish amusement, I 

 have before now tempted persons unaoiinainted with the fruit to 

 taste the under side of the covering, when they have declared that 

 they should never forget it— not pain exactly, hut uneasiness. 

 When these heads are removed, the lower part of the ovaries, 

 which is the part eaten, can be easily detached from the some- 

 what woody axis over which they stand in the closest possible 

 order. I believe the plant is a native of the West Indies, and 

 the fruit may be classed among the most delicious. At Dang- 

 steiu it is cultivated in a house along with the graceful 

 Banana and some other tropical fruits.— Geoboe Newltn (in 

 Science Oossip). 



'I'lIE CARDOON. 



It is not a matter of much surprise when we find that 

 amidst_ the horticultural bustle of the day some good and 

 useful inhabitant of our gardens has been neglected so long as 

 to become, comparatively speaking, almost lost ; yet I venture 

 to say such is the case with the Cardoou, as I have proved that 

 not more than 2 per cent, of gentlemen'.'? gardeners grow it, 

 aud_ those who do are not very particular in bringing it to per- 

 fection. Now, why is it so? It we judge by the writers of 

 " Work for the 'Week," or " Doings of the Last Week," who 

 very seldom, if ever, allude to the Cardoon, we might arrive at 

 the conclusion that it is not worth cultivating. That the 

 Cardoon is not exactly so I can prove, not only from its being 

 so much in request here, but visitors who have tasted it have 

 inquired what vegetable it was, how to grow it, and v.here to 

 procure it. 



To the best of my knowledge the Cardoou has been in this 

 country upwards of two hundred years, and at one time it was 

 rather extensively cultivated : but I believe the French have 

 always been the greatest admirers of it, and they use it exten- 

 sively for stewing, and for soups and salads. They profess to 

 possess a much better sort than we have, but I can hardly 

 think so, otherwise it would have found its way here before 

 now. The only variety which I have grown is the Spanish 

 Cardoon, which, when blanched, is very white and tender. 



The culture of the Cardoon is so similar to that of Celery 

 that it is unnecessary to enter into all the details here, but I 

 may state that the plant requires a wider and deeper trench, 

 plenty of manure, and abundance of water when growing. 

 Under liberal treatment it attains i and even (J feet in height, 

 and its graceful form and silvery pinnatifid foliage has a very 

 ornamental effect. Loudon, in his " Encyclopa?dia of Garden- 

 ing," advises a light, deep, sandy soil not very rich ; but I 

 have found the Cardoon do better in one that is rather close 

 and very rich. It must be grown rapidly to make it tender. 

 I usually place the seeds in the trench, 18 inches apart, on the 

 top of the mannre. put three seeds in each hole, and when the 

 seedlings are 1 inches high, I take away all but the strongest, 

 and they will grow rapidly. The seed should be put iu in 

 April. The plants may either be earthed-up as they grow, or 

 not until a month before they are required tor use. I prefer 

 the latter mode of proceeding, on account of the greater con- 

 venience which it affords of applying manure water to the 

 roots. — Thomas Eecoed, Lillesdm, Hawkhurst. 



EPIPHYLLUIM TRUNCATUM CULTURE. 



This Epiphyllum is very seldom seen in the possession of 

 the amateur or humble cultivator, who without glass endea- 

 vours to grow a few plants for his window or little back gar- 

 den, yet it is one of the many I have tried to grow, and I will 

 in as brief a manner as possible state my mode of obtaining 

 success. 



In the first place, the smallest piece will grow, as "J. 'W." 

 states. Such a piece as is broken off sometimes by accident, 

 placed in a small pot, soon takes root. I have at the present 

 time a small plant in a (iO-sized pot, which has produced six 

 flowers, and it has not had any artificial heat from first to last. 

 It was struck iu a (iO-pot as above described, kept during the 

 winter in the window of the sitting-room of the cottage, and 

 placed near a Vine at the foot of a wall facing south, after all 

 danger of frost was over. It remained there throughout tho 

 summer, and in autumn was removed to its former quartern, 



