918 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



PART III. 



6654. 



SECT. IV. Succulent Green-house Plants. 

 SUCCULENT GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 



6555. Propagation. With succulents this is remarkably easy, as cuttings and suckers, where they can be 

 procured, seldom fail to put out roots ; however, some sorts of aloe, crassula, &c. do not readily produce 

 shoots of any sort by which they may be multiplied. When the leaves are taken off cuttings or suckers, 

 the latter should be laid in a dry airy place, till the wounds heal ; they may then be planted in the 

 proper soil, one in each of the smallest-sized pots, and being kept a few weeks in a dry heat, and shaded 

 from bright sunshine, they will seldom fail to grow. In raising succulents from seeds, proceed as directed 

 for the seeds of woody plants ; but observe to be more sparing of water after the plants come up. 



6656. Culture. A sandy loam is the soil universally allowed as the most proper for these plants ; not 

 over linely sifted, in order to let the water pass the more rapidly through it ; and for the more succulent 

 and dwarf sorts as stapelia, cactus, &c. about an eighth part of old lime-rubbish may be added. Succu- 

 lents do not associate well with any other description of plants, neither as to appearance or modes of 

 culture ; therefore, wherever they are extensively cultivated, there should be a house or houses on pur- 

 pose for them. One house would be required for the more hardy sorts included in this section, and 

 another for the dry-stove succulents, given in a succeeding table. They require very little watering, and 

 never over the top during the winter months ; in summer, if the pots be well drained, they will bear more 

 water, especially when in flower. The pots in which they are placed should be smaller in proportion than 

 for other plants, as they grow slowly, evaporate little, and apparently derive great part of their sustenance 

 from the air. They need not be shifted oftener than once in two or three years ; but the surface earth 

 should be taken off, and fresh compost added every year. They do not require to be set out in the open 

 garden during summer ; but as much air as possible should be admitted to them, and the roof of the house 

 should be open at that season, night and day, excepting during heavy rains. " The greatest injury," Page 

 observes, " which these plants have to be guarded against, is damps in winter; therefore they should be 

 frequently looked over, and all decayed parts removed, particularly from those which are stemless, and 

 when the leaves touch the earth." He adds, " few of these plants, either those of the green-house or hot- 

 house, are cultivated in general, but merely to fill up the by-shelves and odd corners of the exotic 

 houses ; but if a proper attention was paid to them, and their cultivation better known from a study of 

 their characters, we have no doubt but they might be rendered as ornamental and interesting as those 

 now considered the most select. Mftet of the forms and growths of these plants are truly curious ; and 

 many of their flowers of the greatest beauty and brilliancy. Since the days of Dillenius and the late 

 James Lee, these plants have had few admirers ; but the present Emperor of Germany, the Prince of 

 Salm, the Vice- King of Lombard)', and our countrymen Haworth and Anderson, the latter the able 

 curator of Chelsea Botanic Garden, are endeavoring to bring them again into that notice which they so 

 eminently deserve." (Prodromus, 220.) 



6657. Mesembryanthemums are planted out by Mowbray, in a pit along the front wall of a hot-house. 

 The soil he uses is rich garden-mould and fresh loam : " the sorts are M. inclaudens, aurantium, perfoli- 

 atum, deltoides, barbatum, and other species of different habits ; the strong-growing kinds are put to- 

 wards the back, and the dwarf ones in the front. They grow vigorously, and flower in a superior manner 

 to what they do in small pots ; nothing can surpass the brilliancy of their blossoms in a bright summer' 

 day, and many of them continue flowering all winter. All the culture they require is thinning and protec- 

 tion by mats over the glass in severe weather. In summer the sashes are taken off, and the soil may be 

 covered with stones like rock-work." (Hort. Trans, v. 274.) 



6658. 



SECT. V. Bulbous Green-house Plants. 

 BULBOUS GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 



