174 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Cacti—continued. 
say, 4ft. wide, and reach along the wall as far as required ; 
the back of the rockery would extend about 2ft. above the 
ground-level, and fall towards the front. Fix in, the wall, 
1ft. or so above the rockery, a number of hooks at intervals 
all along, to hold in position lights sufficiently long to 
cover the rockery from the wall to the front, where they 
could be supported by short posts driven in the ground. 
The lights should be removed during summer to some shed, 
and brought out for use on the approach of winter. 
Treated in this manner, the following hardy species could 
not fail to be a success: Opuntia Rafinesquii and var. 
arkansana, O. vulgaris, O. brachyarthra, O. Picolominiana, 
O. missouriensis, O. hwmilis, Cereus Fendleri, C. Engel- 
manni, O. gonacanthus, C. phoeniceus, Echinocactus Sinvp- 
som, E. Pentlandi, and Mamillaria vivipara. Cactuses 
and other succulents are sometimes planted out in beds 
as summer occupants (see Fig. 189). 
Cacti—continued. 
when placed in a compost of loam and leaf-mould, or loam 
and peat, yet the growth they make is generally too sappy 
and weak ; it is simply fat without bone, which, when the 
necessary ‘resting period comes round, either rots or 
gradually dries up. In preparing soil, therefore, for all 
Cactuses (except Epiphyllwm and Rhipsalis, which will be 
treated separately), a good, rather stiff loam, with plenty 
of grass fibre in it, should form the principal ingredient, 
sand and, if obtainable, small brick rubble being added 
—one part of each of the latter to six parts of the former. 
The brick rubble should be pounded up so that the largest 
pieces are about the size of Hazel-nuts. Lime-rubbish, i.e., 
old plaster from buildings, &c.,is sometimes recommended 
for Cactuses, but it does not appear to be of any use 
except as drainage.. At Kew its use has been discontinued, 
andsit is now generally condemned by all good cultivators. 
Of course, the idea that lime was beneficial to Cactuses 
SORE. fare 
Fic. 189. CAcTI AND OTHER SUCCULENTS USED AS OUTDOOR BEDDING PLANTS IN PENGE RECREATION GROUND. 
Sor. The conditions in which plants grow naturally 
are what we usually try to imitate for their cultivation 
artificially. At all events, such is supposed to be 
theoretically right, however difficult it may be found in 
practice. In Cactuses, however, we have plants for which 
special conditions are necessary; and, as regards soil, 
whether we are guided by nature or by gardening 
experience, we are led to conclude that almost all of 
them thrive only when planted in one kind, that soil being 
principally loam. Plants which are limited in nature to 
sandy, sun-scorched plains or the glaring sides of rocky 
hills and mountains, where scarcely any other form of 
vegetation can exist, are not likely. to require much 
decayed vegetable humus, but must obtain their food from 
inorganic substances, such as loam, sand, or lime. So it 
is with them when grown in our houses. They are 
healthiest and longest-lived when planted in a loamy soil ; 
and although they may be grown fairly well for a time 
sprang from the knowledge that it existed in large 
quantities in the soil in which the plants grew naturally, 
and: it is often found in abundance, in the form of oxalate 
of lime, in the old stems of the plants. But in good loam, 
lime, in the state of chalk, is always present, and this, 
together with the lime contained in the brick rubble, is 
sufficient to supply the plants with as much as they 
require. 
For Epiphyllums and Rhipsalis, both of which are 
epiphytal naturally, but which are found to thrive best 
in pots in our houses, a mixture of* equal. parts peat and 
loam with sand and brick rubble in the same proportion 
as before recommended, will be found most suitable. 
Leaf-mould is sometimes used for these plants; but unless 
really good it is best omitted. The finest Epiphyllums 
have been grown in a soil consisting almost entirely of a 
light fibry loam, with the addition of a little crushed 
bones. — 
