187 
SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING CACTiE. 
From the very peculiar treatment wliicli succulent plants require, their inter- 
esting nature, and the great variety of figure they assume, it has become the 
custom, which is yearly growing more prevalent, to cultivate them in a house by 
themselves, and not to mix them with other plants, nor even to keep them on a 
distinct stage in a structure filled with a miscellaneous collection. The uses of 
such an isolation cannot for a moment be disputed ; and its recommendations, in an 
ornamental point of view, are of considerable weight. Possessing ia themselves 
sufficient diversity to ensure beauty and liveliness of grouping, the effect of an 
aggregation of their singular forms is exceedingly imposing, and would be alto- 
gether nullified were they mingled with difi'erent orders of plants. 
In succulent houses, however, there is always a serious lack of the objects 
which render other plant erections so engaging, and give them such a graceful as 
well as spirited appearance. We allude to clifnbers. These, it is admitted, are 
sometimes supplied by levies on the ordinary tribes ; but there is an obvious 
incongruity in the introduction of common climbers amongst a collection of succu- 
lents, which constitutes a strong drawback to their employment, and ought, in our 
opinion, to determine their exclusion. Their place may, nevertheless, be made 
good by the use of the truly climbing Cactaceous plants, such as Cereus grandi- 
florus^ Pereskia aculeaia and Bleo^ with such succulent slirubs as Ceropegia 
stapeliaformis. Cereus speciosissimus and Jenkinsonii, again, with Euphorbia 
splendens, and some others, can be trained with propriety against a wall or trellis, 
and will make a very good display in those circumstances. 
Other modes of relieving the dulness occasioned by vacancy in the upper part of 
a succulent house, are the suspension of different Epiphylla, in baskets containing 
moss or earth, from the roofs, and also in the similar suspension of Cereus flagelli- 
formis and Epiphjllam truncatum in pots. Additional variety may be gained, 
too, by grafting Epiphyllum truncatum^ and various other species, on tall stems of 
Pereskia ; aculeata and also by inserting grafts of the different Epiphylla on the 
stronger and equally high stems of Cereus speciosissimus. We mean, in the latter 
case, that each stock should consist of only one stem, which can be grown to 
almost any desired height. 
All these methods, though highly useful, and really auxiliary to the promotion 
of a good object, are insufficient, without further aids, effectually to take away 
the tameness of aspect which exists in a succulent house, and which can exist 
nowhere and not occasion positive annoyance, or at least create a correspondingly 
tame impression. 
Now we propose the avoidance of such monotony, or rather the adoption of 
