EriPHYLLUM TRUNCATUM. 87 



kept off at all times, except during rainy weather, when they are 

 always put on, as above all things a drop of rain must never fall upon 

 the pots, for several reasons. The first of these is, becatise rain is olten 

 very heavy, and washes the seeds out of the pots. Secondly, the rain 

 is often too little and only moistens the surface. And, thirdly, after 

 the 1st of October, rain is too cold. I water the plants with a \ ery 

 fine rose, and always twice over, but never until they are on the point 

 of flagging. After the 1st of October I either warm the water or use 

 it out of the stove. I remove the Mignonette to the Iront of the green- 

 house about the 1st of K^ovember, for fear of damps. If a succession 

 is Manted, I cut down as many as may be necessary about the middle of 

 December, and these make a better blooming and thicker pot of Mig- 

 nonette than a second sowing. I leave only six or seven plants in each 

 pot. I do not vary in any way from the above now, exceptino- it is 

 kept in pits all the winter, instead of the front of an airy greenhouse, 

 and I have at this time (December 10th) about one thousand pots, ancl 

 I do not hesitate to state that better Mignonette is not in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London, which will be in full flower by February and 

 March." 



EPIPHYLLUM TRUNCATUM. 



To propagate the Epiphyllum truncatum (says a correspondent of the 

 Journal of the Horticultural Society) prepare young healthy stocks of 

 Cereus speciosissimus, and engraft tliem with the above in March, from 

 one to two feet above the surface of the pots. Grow them in the stove 

 till they are sufficiently large for flowering, which should be in about 

 eighteen months from the time they are grafted. In the autumn of 

 their second summer's growtli remove them from the stove to a cool airy 

 part of the greenhouse, or, if the weather is fine, place them out on a 

 south border out of doors ; and, as winter advances, diminish the quan- 

 tity of water till they become quite dry. They remain in the green- 

 house at rest till they are required for forcing. 



Those required to flower first are removed back to the stove early 

 in spring. As soon as tliey have matured the first growth, place them 

 in any exposed part of the garden. This change causes them to set 

 flower-buds at the point of every shoot. As soon as the flower-buds 

 are well established, place the plants in a warm shady part of the 

 greenhouse, where they will flower profusely by the early part of 

 October. 



By removing the plants successively from their winter quarters to 

 the forcing-house, and treating them as above mentioned, a succession 

 of fine plants can be kept in bloom from October to March. 



To those who esteem a collection of winter flowers, nothing can be 

 more desirable than this Epiphyllum truncatum, E. violaceum, and E. 

 Russelliaiuuii, grown in tlie same manner. 



