■280 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ October 8, 1865. 



by Bprmkling the paths, A-c, up to the time of the second 

 crop'8 ripening, which will be towarilg the end of September, 

 and during October ; the soil ought likewise to receive a good 

 supply of water, but less than in the case of the first crop, 

 partly from the trees having a tendency to ripeu instead of 

 grow, and also from the evaporation being less, in consequence 

 of the advanced period of the season. They will ripen off per- 

 fectly in a temperatiu-e of 55" from fire heat. 



By the time the second crop has been all gathered the 

 leaves will have begun to assume their autumn tints ; then 

 ieep dry, and give all the air practicable, with no more fire 

 heat than sufficient to prevent any great amount of frost in 

 the house. 



During the first year the border will sustain the trees without 

 manure waterings, or top-dressings ; but in the second the roots 

 will jn-obably have extended to the limits of the border. This 

 will be best ascertained by the growth. If the shoots come 

 strong, and the leaves or joints are wide apart, either the 

 border is too rich, or the roots have too much room. In that 

 case avoid liquid manure and rich top-dressings. If, on the 

 other hand, the roots are cramped, and there is no lack of nu- 

 triment in the soil, the wood will be strong, and the joints 

 short. In that case a dressing of rich compost will be beneficial. 

 Fresh cowdung is the best ; next comes a compost formed by 

 anixing equal quantities of good loam and sheep-droppings to- 

 gether, and letting them lie for six mouths ; then night soil 

 mixed with four times its bulk of soil, and used a year old ; 

 and, lastly, 2 or 3 inches of the short manure from an old 

 Mushroom-bed. The cowdung should be s]iread over the old 

 soO of the borders to the depth of an inch, and the others are 

 laid on 2 or 3 inches deep, previously removing the loose sur- 

 iaee soil. These dressings should not be applied until the 

 shoots are so far advanced as to require stopping. If the borders 

 are not top-dressed tliey should be watered with liquid manure 

 at every alternate watering up to the crop's ripening, and then 

 again for the second crop. In subsequent seasons the old top- 

 dressing is to be removed as far as practicable in autumn, when 

 the leaves turn yellow and begin to fall, and replaced with 

 fresh, which being supplemented with a good watering will 

 induce a certain amount of root-action in autumn. If top- 

 dressed late, or in spring, the fruit will fall prematurely, 

 from diminished root action just when it is needed, and then' a 

 glut of nourishment will cause over -luxuriant growths, which 

 are to be avoided in the case of all fruit trees, and partieularlv 

 in that of the Fig. 



In the second year the trees may be started in February, and 

 the crops will then ripen in June, and in August and Septem- 

 ber, respectively. The earliest period at which it is pos.sible to 

 start Figs is in .January, in which case the first crop will ripen 

 in May or early in June, and the second in August, a third 

 heing bad by forcing the trees hard in October and Novem- 

 ber. _ In a previous article I asked if three crops had ever been 

 obtained in one season, but met with no response, and I have 

 now to state that such has been done, but it is not desirable, 

 for it takes nine months of growth to perfect two crops, the 

 third being obtained at the expense of the next season's fruit- 

 ing. Fig trees require rest, and three months are not too much ; 

 therefore, if Figs are wanted late, it is better to grow trees for 

 the purpose, allowing them to come on naturally so as to ripen 

 one crop in autumn, and a second in October, November, or 

 even December. For this purpose it is best to have the trees 

 in pots, and to keep them out of doors until the middle of 

 September, when they will be studded with the second crop on 

 the midsummer shoots, and if then introduced into a house 

 with a temperature of 55° at night the fruit will ripen in 

 November, and thus green, though ripe, Figs may be had at 

 Christmas and on New Year's-day. In WTitiug of temperature, 

 that of the night is only here given, and that is understood to 

 take place once during the tweuty-fom: hours or at 6 a.m. 

 Whatever temperatui-e may then be proper, the reading should 

 be 5° higher by 8 .\.m. and 10° at noon on dull days, 15° on 

 cloudy days with clear intervals, and 20° or more with a cloud- 

 less sky, a corresponding amoimt of air being given in each 

 case. 20° of sun heat will do no harm, but, on the contrary, 

 wiU prove of the greatest benefit, whilst 5° extra fire heat may 

 be attended by the most serious consequences. 



The best sorts for forcing are the White Ischia, a small 

 but delicious Fig, the ^Vhite Marseilles, Brown Turkey, and 

 Pregussata, a large Fig much resembling the Brown Turkey. 

 and possessing all its good qualities, except that it ripens 

 its fruit at once, whilst the Brown Turkey ripens almost 

 continuously, or during a lengthened period. The Genoa 



for size may have a place, whilst the Castle Kennedy will, 

 I am persuaded, supersede all white Figs for every purpose. 

 — G. Abbey. 



THE CACTUS PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



The Cactus — the celebrated family of the floral Idngdom, 

 the glory of the hothouses of Em-ope, and the wonder of travel- 

 lers, whose flowers and fruits are seen on every league of 

 surface in South Carohna, Arizona, and the Peninsula — has 

 never sufficiently attracted the attention of our florists or 

 farmers. Fifty-five species of Cactus are known in the botany 

 of these sections, and they include some with magnificent 

 flowers and of extraordinary appearance, forming beautiful 

 ornaments when in the viciuity of other vegetation. If the 

 lUfferent species, all covered with thorns, could he brought 

 together in a Californian garden, they would form one of the 

 most singular and unique displays it is possible to conceive in 

 gardening, and it is to be remembered that the fruits are as 

 valuable for human food as the flowers are for feasting the eye. 



The Cactaceae have .in immense range in the altitudes of cen- 

 tral North America, or in what we may term the California simu- 

 lacra of climates and soils, as they are found from the parallel 

 of Cariboo to Cape St. Lucas, and from the eastern slopes of 

 the Rocky Mountains in North Dakota to the Gila river. They 

 are met with iu all latitudes between Gila and Panama, from 

 the line of perpetual snow to that of the sea-shore. Some two 

 hundred different species of this singular family of American 

 plants are enumerated in the botany of Mexico, ranging from 

 the shape of a Cabbage to that of a Grape Vine, and looming 

 high as a tree and umbrageous as a small Oak. Their flowering 

 is of extraordinary sj^lendour and loveliness, and is from the 

 purest white to vennilion, including every mixtm-e of the 

 prismatic colours. But it is the fruit, the standby of the poor 

 and the Indians iu the seasons of drought and famine, that 

 unfolds this providential blessing of the desert in all its value. 



Fugleman, of St. Louis, an eminent writer on this family, 

 enumerates as indigenous to Arizona and South California four 

 genera of the Cactus — that is, thirty-seven species of the Cereus 

 or perpendicular stems, six Mammillarias or Mamacs, and six 

 Echinocacti or Cahbage-Heads. Almost every one of these is 

 found in the mountain ranges and deserts of Los Angeles, 

 San Bernardino and San Diego counties. In Lower CaUfomia 

 many specimens are met w ith which arc foreign to onr parallels 

 of latitude, one of which, a climbing variety, is found in ths 

 driest months to be full of the purest water. One of the 

 Opuntias has a small fruit, specific in scurvies and blood 

 impmuties, while others have fruits with the flavour of Pine 

 Apples, of Strawberries, Peaches, Plums, and Cherries, of the 

 luscious Cherimoyer and Mangosteen, of the Fig and Grape, 

 and of the Lemon, Apple, and Pear. 



The Cactus opuntia, or Indian Fig of Mexico — white and 

 red — was introduced into the mission gardens of om- state 

 from Santa Clara to San Diego in the early settlement of the 

 country, some seventy years ago ; but they are also found 

 indigenous to the mountains of Colorado, iu San Bernardino 

 and San Diego counties. Near all tlie southern missions below 

 Point Concepcion they grow luxuriantly, particularly at Santa 

 Barbara, San Fernando, and San Gabriel. At the two last- 

 named places they are extremely abundant and luscious. These 

 varieties of the Prickly Pear are valuable additions to the food 

 of our state, as the food is not only very plentiful in the sum- 

 mer and fall, but is highly niitritive and agreeable, and can be 

 gathered at will, and the plant requires no care. When 

 strijiped of the prickles they can be boiled down to an excellent 

 conserve or syrup, or dried in the sun for preservation, as they 

 contain a large quantity of sugar and gum. The plant is easily 

 propagated by slips or seeds, and has a wonderful endurance, 

 vitality, and hardiness. It comes to perfection in three years. 

 Its seeds, which are very abundant in the fruit, are toasted hy 

 the Indians as a substitute for corn. The mucilage of the 

 leaves or fronds is thrown into water and used in making 

 cements and whitewashes, and gives great strength to those 

 house-building materials in the arid districts of Mexico. It is 

 in common use around Los Angeles. 



Being such plentiful and excellent producers of sugary fruit, 

 no necessai-y to the laboming man in our dry and attenuated 

 atmosphere, this matter should be attended to by our people, as 

 well as the arts of making molasses from Mangoes, Pumpkins, 

 Melons, Water Melons, Grapes, Pears, Beet, Cornstalks and the 

 wild Sugar-cane, or Panoche-carisso, of the Tulares. All these 

 fruits are well known to the Indians and Mestizoes of Sonora 



