DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



53J 



scarcely a specimen can be bought there, except 

 very small ones, or budded bushes. Some ol" the 

 most beautiful thinjrs are unknown to the mass of the 

 people, and are not to be had, thou2;h extremely easy 

 of cultivation. I am very confident that not a dozen 

 Cedars of Lebanon could be bought in the county 

 of Philadelphia, though the tree is adapted to our 

 climate, and stands unrivalled among evergreens. 

 This is not so much to be wondered at, because the 

 seeds brought over here rarely vegetate, and to 

 bring the plants is expensive, and attended with 

 loss; but one would suppose it would be easy enough 

 to purchase such common plants as the Irish Yew, or 

 Wistaria sinensis, or Cobea scandens, and a long 

 list of things, indispensable to ornamented grounds; 

 no such thing as a tolerably large box tree can be 

 purchased, and yet land where these might grow 

 and produce twenty per cent per annum, is plentiful 

 and cheap; the people go for the •' ready penny,"' 

 and will grow a waggon load of cabbages for half 

 the price of a single plant or a tree of a valuable 

 kind. The city is justly famous for the taste for 

 and abundance of common green house plants; but 

 this has been the case so long, that we are enabled 

 to look for an advance. I mention all this, to im- 

 press upon your readers the fact that there is yet 

 a new and untrodden path — a public want unsup- 

 plied, which is open to enterprising individuals, who 

 would study the demand. I really believe I could 

 not now buy a Triumph of Luxemburg rose higher 

 than three feet in our region of countrj', and yet 

 they are easy of propagation, very valuable, tolera- 

 bly hardy, and to be seen in few private gardens. 

 Acres devoted to such plants as I have named just 

 as they occurred to me, would surel)' prove more 

 productive than if planted with common vegeta- 

 bles. Who would not bu}' fine large specimens of 

 the best roses? The market is annualh' overstock- 

 ed with forced plants of poor kinds, instead. 



With a rapidly increasing population all around us, 

 (Philadelphia was never more prosperous than 

 now.) there are fine openings for men of skill, taste 

 and perseverance to found extensive nurseries of 

 trees and plants. I would exclude every common 

 trashj' article from a list to be grown and propaga- 

 ted, and devote space and time to valuable varieties 

 which would bring several prices more than the 

 inferior. To do this, a man should be versed in his 

 business; should know what is desirable for perma- 

 nent ornament, and should stem for a few years the 

 current of opinion, until he could show what supe- 

 rior things to those in use nature has provided for 

 the gratification of our tastes. This may all be bad 

 advice to the initiated, and I throw it out as mere 

 opinion for thinking men to reflect upon. Sure I 

 am there is some reason in it. I have been led to 

 this train of thought, from inspecting lately, various 

 gardens in our neighborhood, in which few of the 

 beautiful and valuable plants are grown, and have 

 to regret when their names were mentioned as de- 

 sirable possessions, to hear it said, " Oh ! yes — but 

 ■where are we to buy them V 



Planting in Cemeteries. — I regret that you 

 will not follow my notion, suggested some time 

 since, that holly is the true hedge for enclosing 



cemetery lots, and indeed fur any purpose, for which 

 a hedge is required; the difficulty ol' procuring or 



raising it is one drawback, but let me assure you 

 there is nothing can ever equal in beauty or dura- 

 bility the holly, in the praise of which, I am an en- 

 shusiast. — J. J. iS'., Philadelphia, j3pril 10, 1847. 



[The European Holly does not bear the climate 

 well, north of Philadelphia. It is, perhaps, the 

 most beautiful evergreen hedge plant in tlie world, 

 and we cannot too strongly recommend it to those 

 farther south. — Ed.] 



Treatment and culture of Cacti. — The col- 

 lection and cultivation of the numerous species of 

 the genera, comprised in the natural order, (Jactacece 

 during the last few years, has introduced many new 

 and singular forms of vegetable life to the notice of 

 our spirited patrons of Botany. They are begin- 

 ning to attract general attention, both from the gro- 

 tesque forms of a great number of them; and the 

 beauty and profusion of the flowers of some of those 

 already well known, render it no easy task to name 

 their superior in splendor. 



The culture of this order divides itself into two or 

 three distinct methods of treatment. I shall con- 

 fine myself in the meantime to what are more par- 

 ticularly styledyree flowering kinds, viz : Cereus 

 speciosissimus C jenkinsonii, &.C., and others of 

 the order most nearly allied in habit. 



And to see the way that even they are treated in 

 the generality of gardens, one would hardly suppose 

 them possessed of sufficient beauty or interest to 

 render them worthy of any care. Even the £^pi- 

 phylliims, which come under the same class, and 

 always in request both I'rom their splendour, and 

 the season at which they flower, are mostly seen 

 closely laced up to a strong stalk, the surface of the 

 earth in the pots covered with moss, and if you ex- 

 amine' the soil, it will be found half lime rubbish. 



Surely these plants are worth a little more atten- 

 tion. A little of the trouble generally lavished on 

 other plants of minor importance would grovr this 

 family admirably, and give greater satisfaction to 

 the lovers of floricultural beauty. 



A mixture of loam, leaf mould, and thoi-oughly 

 decaj-ed cow dung, with a good proportion of white 

 sand, and above all, the pots proper!}' drained, will 

 not fail to bring these plants to a hi<;h state of per- 

 fection and establish for them a situation in the front 

 ranks of our green houses and plant stores, instead 

 of, as at present, being stowed away in some ob- 

 scure corner. 



Shortly after they have done flowering, pot them 

 into the prepared compost; thin out the least promi- 

 sing of the old and young wood, and place them into 

 a moderately warmed house, until thej' start, grow- 

 ing freely. If the air of the house is too close, no 

 wood of any strength will be produced. Reduce 

 the allowance of water gradually, as they perfect 

 their strongest growth, and when they have done 

 arrowing, and the wood feels firm, they are much 

 benefitted by being turned out of doors, in some half 

 shady, but airy place where they can be protected 

 from wet. 



Plants thus managed, will be found to flower 

 well, and can be forced, or retarded, so as to pro- 

 duce their flowers for a considerable length of time. 



The Epiphyllum, and some of the weakest grow- 

 ing of the other varieties, make the best plants 



