316 PRACTICAL MANNER OF 



bloom is lost. The grafts that I find to succeed tlie best, are yotmg- 

 growing shoots, about one aud a half or two inches long. I pare off 

 the outer skin or bark for about half-an-inoh at the base of the graft, 

 and cut what is intended to be inserted into the stock in the shape of a 

 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 prevent 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 engrafting 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 colour of the blooms are much 

 superior to what they ever produce when grown on their own roots. 

 E. trunoatum by the above treatment 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 difierent kinds of Epiphyllum, such as 

 Ackermanni and truncatum, with Cerexis speciosus and C. triumphans. 

 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 malte, 

 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 untU 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, accord- 

 ing 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 Sep- 

 tember 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 

 B. 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 



