488 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



on a lawn being a suitable place; if planted in 

 a mixed border they should be set in sufficiently 

 large groups to be effective, and their root-space 

 should be kept free from the encroachments of 

 their neighbours. The soil for them should be 

 well trenched, and if manure is needed it should 

 be mixed with the lower spit. A mulch of 

 short, well-rotted dung or leaf-soil should be 

 given every year in May. The plants are un- 

 fortunately subject in some soils to a fungus 

 disease which attacks the stems at the surface 

 of the soil. A good dressing of lime is recom- 

 mended as a preventive. It is also advisable 

 to discard those sorts which are worst affected 

 by this disease. The plants should be lifted, 

 trimmed, and replanted if possible in new soil 

 about every three years. 



Propagation. — It is easy to multiply these 

 plants by means of cuttings taken from the 

 base of cut-down plants. They should be 

 placed in a cutting frame in slight heat and 

 kept close as for cuttings of Chrysanthemums. 

 When rooted they should be planted in a 

 nursery bed for a year, where they will grow 

 into nice stocky plants, ready for the lawn-bed 

 or border, in March or April. They can also 

 be raised from seeds sown in a little warmth in 

 March. The seedlings should be grown on in 

 a nursery-bed until strong enough to plant in 

 borders, &c. Of course seedlings cannot be re- 

 lied upon as regards colour. The stems are 

 very brittle and easily broken by gusts of 

 wind; they should therefore be staked early. 

 In dry weather they require a daily watering. 

 If the stools show a tendency to over-pro- 

 duction of stems in spring, the superfluous 

 ones should be taken off and used, if required, 

 as cuttings. In planting the beds, a distance of 

 about 18 inches between each plant is desirable, 

 and this may prove too close for sorts that 

 grow with great vigour. No plants are better 

 adapted for filling large beds which have been 

 devoted to summer bedding -plants, such as 

 Geraniums, Calceolarias, &c. There are hun- 

 dreds of named sorts; the following is a good 

 selection : — ■ 



White. — * Albatre, Amazon, Bayard ere, * Berenice, 



* Eden, * Fille d'Eve, * La Neige, Lawrence, Niphetos, 



* Purity, Sylphide, The Queen. 



White with red ct/e. — Captain Jackson, Countess of 

 Aberdeen, Countess of Minto, * Espoir, Longchamps, 

 Princess of Wales. 



Pink. — Alhambra, Baccante, * Belvedere, Eclaireur, 

 Gilbert, Hamlet, Marquise de Breteuil, Moliere, Mozart, 

 Mrs. Gladstone, Parthenon, Regulus. 



Red. — Angus M'Leod, Claude Gillie, Coquelicot, Etna, 

 James Grieve, L'Eclair, Montagnard, * Pandore, Roi 

 des Roses, Sesostris, Surprise, Tom Welsh. 



Purple or blue. — Acropole, Balzac, Bayard, Chateau- 

 briand, Duguesclin, Iris, Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Le 

 Mahdi, Le P. Hacquart, Montrose, Suffrage. 



Variegated. — Alcesti, Atlante, Crepuscule, E. Danzan- 

 villiers, Papillon, * Tunisie. 



* These are less than 2 feet high. 



Phyllocactus. — A very showy genus of 

 hothouse plants, well deserving more care and 

 attention than they usually receive. They are 

 chiefly of hybrid origin, the largest and best 



Fig. 596.— Phyllocactus crenatus. 



varieties being mainly descendants from P. 

 crenatus (fig. 596), P. grandis, and P. latifrons. 

 The rich -coloured Cereus speciosissimus is also 

 responsible for some of the most brilliant tints. 

 They have flattened, notched stems, no true 

 leaves, and the flowers are produced from the 

 notches on the upper portion of the last-matured 

 growths. For soil, a light, yellow, fibrous loam, 

 a fourth part of leaf-mould and a sprinkling of 

 brick and mortar rubble and coarse white sand 

 form a suitable mixture. They do not thrive if 

 over-potted, and, like all plants of the Cactus 

 order, they require a season of rest in a dry 

 atmosphere, and also to be kept dry at the roots, 

 scarcely needing water at all for three months 

 in winter. Propagation by seed, obtained, if 

 possible, from cross-fertilized flowers, may result 



