Cactus Culture For Amateurs | Page 6

in warm sunny regions that the naturalisation of these
plants is possible.
From these facts, we are able to form some general idea of the
conditions suitable for Cactuses when cultivated in our greenhouses;
for, although we seldom have, or care to have, any but diminutive
specimens of many of these plants as compared with their appearance
when wild, yet we know that the same conditions as regards heat, light,
and moisture are necessary for small Cactuses as for full-grown ones.
Although the places in which Cactuses naturally abound are, for the
greater portion of the year, very dry and warm, heavy rains are more or
less frequent during certain periods, and these, often accompanied by
extreme warmth and bright sunshine, have an invigorating and almost
forcing effect on the growth of Cactuses. It is during this rainy period

that the whole of the growth is made, and new life is, as it were, given
to the plant, its reservoir-like structure enabling it to store up a large
amount of food and moisture, so that on the return of dry weather the
safety of the plant is insured.
It is to the management of Cactuses in a small state, such as is most
convenient for our plant-houses, and not to the cultivation of those
colossal species referred to above, that the instructions given here will
be for the most part devoted; but, as in the case of almost every one of
our cultivated plants, it is important to the cultivator to know something
of the conditions which Nature has provided for Cactuses in those lands
where they are native.
There is nothing in the nature or the requirements of Cactuses that
should render their successful management beyond the means of
anyone who possesses a small, heated greenhouse, or even a window
recess to which sunlight can be admitted during some portion of the
day. In large establishments, such as Kew, it is possible to provide a
spacious house specially for the cultivation of an extensive collection,
where many of them may attain a good size before becoming too big.
And it will be evident that where a house such as that at Kew can be
afforded, much more satisfactory results may generally be obtained,
than if plants have to be provided for in a house containing various
other plants, or in the window of a dwelling-room. Apart altogether
from size, it is, however, possible to grow a collection of Cactuses, and
to grow them well, in a house of small dimensions--given the amount
of sunlight and heat which are required by these plants. We sometimes
see Cactuses--specimens, too, of choice and rare kinds--which have
been reared in a cottager's window or in a small greenhouse, and which
in health and beauty have at least equalled what has been accomplished
in the most elaborately prepared houses. It may be said that these
successes, under conditions of the most limited kind, are accidental
rather than the result of properly understood treatment; but however
they have been brought about, these instances of good cultivation are
sufficient to show that success is possible, even where the means are of
the simplest or most restricted kind. Whether it be in a large house,
fitted with the best arrangements, or in the window of the cottager, the
conditions essential to the successful cultivation of Cactuses are
practically the same.

In Wardian Cases.--Many of our readers will be acquainted with the
neat little glass cases, like greenhouses in shape, and fitted up in much
the same way, which are sometimes to be seen in our markets, filled
with a collection of miniature Cactuses. To the professional gardener,
these cases are playthings, and are looked upon by him as bearing about
the same relation to gardening as a child's doll's house does to
housekeeping. Not-withstanding this, they are the source of much
interest, and even of instruction, to many of the millions to whom a
greenhouse or serious gardening is an impossibility. In these little
cases--for which we are indebted to Mr. Boller, a dealer in Cactaceous
plants--it is possible to grow a collection of tiny Cactuses for years, if
only the operations of watering, potting, ventilating, and other matters
connected with ordinary plant growing, are properly attended to.
In Window Recesses.--In the window recess larger specimens may be
grown, and here it is possible to grow and flower successfully many of
the plants of the Cactus family. In a window with a south aspect, and
which lights a room where fires are kept, at least during cold weather,
specimens of Phyllocactus, Cereus flagelliformis, Epiphyllum, and, in
fact, of almost every kind of Cactus, are sometimes to be met with even
in England; whilst in Germany they are as popular among the poorer
classes as the Fuchsia, the Pelargonium, and