ON C AC TEAS. 
37 
afterwards be potted in equal parts of loam and sand, with a 
quantity of small stones placed in the bottom of the pot, so that 
moisture may have a free passage from their roots, an efficient 
drainage being most essential in the culture of all succulents ; 
for if water be retained in the pots it rots the roots, and ulti¬ 
mately destroys the plant. As soon as they are potted let them 
be plunged into a frame where a gentle bottom heat can he had, 
and kept close for a week or two, observing to shade if the sun 
comes too powerful upon them, which will greatly facilitate their 
making new roots : now and then they should be refreshed with 
a little water, being careful at the same time to give it only in 
small quantities, and not too often, before they are rooted. By 
the time they have attained a good hold with their new roots 
they should be inured by degrees to the air, and afterwards be 
removed to the stove, where they may remain, observing to 
place them near to the glass, that they may enjoy fresh air and 
the bright sunshine. During the winter months the plants 
should be watered about twice a week, but not in large quan¬ 
tities. In the summer they demand a greater share of both 
water and air, but still to remain constantly in the stove. They 
will bear exposure to the open air through the summer, but the 
great rains, as well as the unsettled temperature of the air in 
our climate, greatly diminishes them by retarding their growth; 
and sometimes in wet summers they will get so saturated with 
moisture that they rot the following winter. 
Most of them may be easily increased by seed. In spring, 
when the fruit becomes shriveled and dry, the seeds will then 
be ripened, so that they may be rubbed out and sown in a pan 
filled with sharp white sand, or they may be sown in the pot in 
which the parent plant is growing ; in this case the surface of 
the soil must not be disturbed after sowing. There will usually 
be plenty of young plants spring up without any further trouble ; 
and when they have got to a proper size to remove, six or seven 
should be put into one pot, and allowed to stand one year ; after 
that time they will be ready to remove singly into small pots, when 
they may be plunged into a gentle hot-bed during the summer. 
J. Henshall. 
