234 General Notices. 



the writer, '* you feed your plant too much, and, in order to innke it flower, 

 you must, at certain times, adopt the starving system." He informed her 

 that he had one of the same kind, commonly called Cactus Jenkinsonii, not 

 near so tall, and very inferior in en-bon-poini and general handsomeness, 

 which yet bore above 100 flowers last season. The inquirer expressed 

 her wonder at this, and received the following account of the method adopt- 

 ed to produce such a result ; it is now submitted to those readers of the 

 Chronicle who may wish to make fat and green Cactuses bring some trib- 

 ute to their floral temple. 



In the natural home of the Cactus, there is a moist and a dry season ; dur- 

 ing the former, vegetation receives a surprising impetus ; during the latter, 

 it flags, and appears almost burnt up and destroyed. Cactuses may be 

 seen shrivelled up through the heat of the sun and the dryness of the soil, 

 but it is to this circumstance they owe their abundance of flower-buds. The 

 wet or moist season returns, and pushes those buds into a glorious life. 

 How different is this natural treatment from that adopted in windows and 

 often in greenhouses ! The plants are kept wet all the year round ; they 

 have no cessation in their growth, but they form no flowers. Let Nature 

 be followed, and the desired result is sure. My cactuses were put away 

 in the autumn into a lumber room, and have had no water since until the 

 middle of last March. They were then brought out covered with dust, 

 cleaned, and gradually supplied with water. They are now as plump as 

 can be wished, and are covered with flower-buds. They will be kept sup- 

 plied with moisture until the flowering is over; then they will take their 

 chance in a sunny part of the garden, against a south wall, until cold 

 weather comes and consigns them again to the lumber room. 



A light soil, composed of brick rubbish mixed with loam and leaf-mould, 

 is best for them, and need not be changed every year, if the top is removed, 

 and a fresh layer put on every spring. Large Cactuses cannot be grown 

 well in windows, and my plan with them is to put them out of doors every 

 day, where they will have all the sun, and to bring them into the sitting- 

 room just as they are about to flower. The whole tribe is easily propa- 

 gated. The cuttings should have the wound healed before being potted, 

 and no water should be given for a month or six weeks afterwards. Such 

 is my simple plan. — {Gard Ckron., 1849, p. 229.) 



Joslins St. Allan's Grape. — Have any of the purchasers of this grape 

 yet fruited it, so as to prove whether it be a distinct variety or not? I 

 bought two or three plants of it, and it is my present impression that it is 

 nothing more than the Chasselas Musqu6, or Wilmot's Muscat ; at least 

 my plants present no possible difference from that variety either in foliage or 

 fruit. On referring to Mr. Thompson's report of it in the J ournal of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society, I find that it agrees with that variety in every particular. 

 No one can have a higher opinion of Mr. Thompson's pomological knowl- 

 edge than myself, and it was solely on his recommendation that I became a 

 purchaser ; yet one would suppose that the Chasselas Musqu6 was a grape 

 common enough not to be mistaken for a new variety ; its only fault is its 

 liability to crack long before it becomes ripe ; this has nearly thrown it out 



