filled with the compost recommended for these plants under "Soil". When
well managed, some very pretty objects are formed by the Epiphyllums
grown as basket plants. The climbing Cactuses are usually planted in a
little mound composed of loam and brick rubble, and their stems either
trained along rafters or allowed to run up the back wall of a
greenhouse, against which they root freely, and are generally capable of
taking care of themselves with very little attention from the gardener.

In Frames.--For cultivation in frames, the conditions are the same as
for greenhouses. Even when grown in the latter, it will be found
conducive to the health and flowering of the plants if, during the
summer months, they can be placed in a frame with a south aspect,
removing them back to the house again on the decline of summer weather.
Wherever the place selected for Cactuses may be, whether in a large
plant-house, or a frame, or a window, it is of vital importance to the
plants that the position should be exposed to bright sunshine during
most of the day. Without sunlight, they can no more thrive than a
Pelargonium could without water. In Germany, many growers of almost all
the kinds of Cactuses place their young plants in frames, which are
prepared as follows: In April or May a hot-bed of manure and leaves is
prepared, and a frame placed upon it, looking south. Six inches of soil
is put on the top of the bed, and in this, as soon as the temperature of
the bed has fallen to about 70 deg., the young plants are placed in
rows. The frames are kept close even in bright weather, except when
there is too much moisture inside, and the plants are syringed twice
daily in dry, hot weather. The growth they make under this treatment is
astonishing. By the autumn the plants are ready to be ripened by
exposure to sun and air, and in September they are lifted, planted in
pots, and sent to market for sale. This method may be adopted in
England, and if carefully managed, the growth the plants would make