Cactus Culture For Amateurs | Page 6

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 the Musk are with us. One of the commonest of Cactuses in the latter country is the Rat's-tail Cactus (Cereus flagelliformis), and it is no unusual thing to see a large window of a cottager's dwelling thickly draped on the inside with the long, tail-like growths and handsome rose-coloured flowers of this plant. This is only one among dozens of species, all equally useful for window gardening, and all as interesting and beautiful as those above described.
In Greenhouses.--For the greenhouse proper, Cactuses are well adapted, either as the sole occupants or as suitable for such positions as are afforded by