92 THE FLORIST. 



AMARYLLIDS AND DWARF CACTI. 



Amaryllids and dwarf Cacti are two very dissimilar orders of plants, 

 and at first sight it may appear strange to unite them in the same 

 article. They are both objects of much interest, many of the varieties 

 in both orders producing flowers of great beauty, and most of the 

 dwarf Cacti are attractive at all times; but how rare is it that we see 

 a collection of them in any thing like perfection ! The Cacti appear 

 more or less numerous in almost every greenhouse, and generally 

 as objects of great and long- continued neglect, disgracing instead of 

 adorning the place they occupy. The Amaryllis is frequently grown 

 for years without flowering. Now I believe this state of things is 

 mainly to be attributed to want of attention to their natural habitat 

 and climate. Bulbs, natives of the sunny plains of South America, 

 are expected to flower in the shade with the subdued sunlight of Bri- 

 tain ; and Cacti from the tropics are generally left to themselves, 

 here and there and any where. 



It is not my intention to give the routine culture; in many re- 

 spects, especially in soil, great diflferences may be alike, or nearly alike, 

 successful ; but my chief object is to direct attention to one point 

 applicable alike to both, which it is indispensable to attend to, and 

 that is, affording the plants, whilst growing and ripening their growth, 

 a due amount of the solar influence, both heat and light. The best struc- 

 tures for them in summer are pits or frames, so that the plant can be 

 brought very near the glass; and for the tropical Cacti, such as Echi- 

 nocacti and Mam miliaria, the glass should be as nearly horizontal as 

 will allow the rain to run off ; for being accustomed to a vertical sun, 

 they "bow the head" to greet him at any angle; they require his 

 direct rays on the crown of the plant, and bend and become unsightly 

 when the light comes horizontally; of course, attention must be given 

 to soil, re-potting, and watering ; moisture, heat, and light should 

 always bear relative proportions during the growing season; for Cacti 

 the water should be gradually withheld early in autumn, that the 

 growth may be fully ripened. 



The Amaryllids, at least many, such as the beautiful Hippeastrum 

 aulicum, may be continued always in a growing state, and Amaryl- 

 lis formosissima might be cultivated in a bed like Tulips, care being 

 taken to put it deep enough to be out of reach of frosts, or they 

 might be covered with spent bark or litter, until fear of frost is gone. 

 Some varieties require a winter's rest; others, as Amaryllis Belladonna, 

 begin to grow in autumn, and should continue to grow through the 

 winter, kept just free from frost, gradually drying them about the 

 end of May, and resting them until the end of July, when, on receiv- 

 ing moisture, they put forth their bloom, and again commence grow- 

 ing. Nerines do the same; but as I have said before, my chief object 

 is to direct attention to the necessity of giving them all the sunlight 

 possible, as one indispensable element in their successfulcultivation. 



Omicron. 



