THE GREEN-HOUSE. 



95 



culture and propagation ; lime rubbish and loam, or 

 sand and loam, is the best soil ; the pots being well 

 drained, and care being taken never to over-water 

 them. Succulents with very thick leaves, as the 

 A^loe, Crassula, &c. will live for months without any 

 water, and Mesembryanthemums require it chiefly 

 when they are in flower. None of the succulents, 

 excepting the last-mentioned genus, should be set out 

 in the open air during summer, as they are very apt 

 to be rotted by rain and cold. Cuttings allowed to 

 dry a day or two after they are taken ofl", and then 

 planted in sandy loam, root speedily and certainly ; 

 and the Mesemhrydnthemum may be propagated in 

 this way to any extent, and so as to have abundance 

 of plants to plant out in the open borders of the 

 flower-garden, to flower during August and Septem- 

 ber if the season be dry and warm. The Mesem- 

 hrydnthemum indeed is the only genus of green-house 

 succulents which has any pretensions to beauty in the 

 flower : some admire them on account of their flowers 

 and extreme hardiness ; and one gardener has carried 

 their culture to a considerable extent in pits ; in these 

 he plants them without pots, and chiefly the species 

 inclaudenSj aurdntium, perfoUdtum, deltoides, and 

 barbdtum. The strong-growing kinds are put towards 

 the back, and the dwarf ones in the front of the 

 pit. They grow vigorously, he says, 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 



