188 
SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING CACTiE. 
means whicli shall relieve or banish it, in two ways. The first is by covering a 
wall with succulents after a novel manner, which we shall describe. Let us 
assume that the succulent house has a lean-to roof, sloping to the south, with a 
back wall of moderate height. We take this for granted, because such a house 
would afford more light than any other, and therefore be more suitable to the sub- 
jects of cultivation. On no account do we wish to contravene what we have 
lately said on the unsightliness of such structures, for we would have a house of 
equal size and similar slope at the back of the other, so that the external appear- 
ance would be that of a span-roofed erection. Camellias and other shade-loving 
plants might be kept in the northern compartment. 
In the back-wall of the succulent house under notice, we would construct a 
kind of cli amber resembling a flue, the inner wall of which should stand at least a 
foot w^ithin the general wall of the house. In other words, about a foot from the 
inside of the back wall, we would raise another wall, a brick in thickness, to 
within about eighteen inches of the roof. This would leave a chamber, the whole 
length of the house, nearly a foot in breadth. Nine inches or a foot below the top 
of that chamber it should be covered in with perforated tiles or slates, leaving an 
aperture of an inch or more between each. These slates are to form the base of a 
sort of trough in which to plant certain succulents, and the open interstices and 
frequent perforations are to secure good drainage. 
Placing a quantity of broken potsherds, &:c. in the bottom of the trough just 
mentioned, it should then be filled with tolerably rich soil. The earth in use for 
succulents is commonly of a very poor description, and largely intermixed with 
lime-rubbish. The benefit of this last is undoubtedly in its facilitation of drainage, 
and a few pieces of broken sand-stone w^ill be greatly jjreferable. Sterile soil, 
moreover, is only fit for particular kinds of Cactse, and an actually nutritive 
compost is better for many. That of which we are speaking, should be composed 
of light loam, a little heath-mould, and leaf-soil, with the addition of the reduced 
sand-stone already named. 
In the trough thus filled, we would plant a number of healthy specimens of 
Cereus fiagelliformis^ and train their stems down the wall as they advance in 
growth. The situation would be highly favourable to the culture of the species, 
which demands a great intensity of solar light ; and as its branches are naturally 
pendent, and will not thrive when supported erectly, it would doubtless flourish 
most luxuriantly in such a position. 
But the principal end of the plan, after the specimens have been planted a few 
years, and gained both strength and length of shoots, is to employ these as stocks 
on which to graft Epiphyllum speciosum^ and numerous related plants. By insert- 
ing them liberally all over the branches, there will, at the expiration of two or 
three years, be realized a surface which, for profusion of blossoms, and variety in 
their colours, will be almost vv'ithout a parallel in the whole range of floriculture. 
To contribute towards covering the wall more speedily, a similar trough may 
