785 



uation practically frostless. The cac- 

 tus fences of Mexico could be repro- 

 duced; the Mission hedge of tunas, as 

 grown for their fruit in earlier days, 

 and the climbing and hanging species 

 should all be provided for, and after 

 a few years of intelligent and persis- 

 tent effort, no greater diversity of 

 form, beauty and utility could be 

 found in any garden in the world. 



A popular fallacy is that all cacti 

 have spines, and it is equally falla- 

 cious that all thrive under neglect or 

 any treatment that may be given 

 them. One gentleman purchased a 

 choice collection of 500 varieties from 

 me some years ago, and turned them 

 over to a gardener, who set them out 

 in the edge of a well-kept lawn! The 

 gentleman is still said to remember 

 me unkindly, though he could not 

 have expected different results from 

 such treatment of his plants. An- 

 other gentlemen imported over 30,000 

 plants and turned them over to ignor- 

 ant help with the result, I am told, 

 that only 4,000 survive after two 

 years of mistreatment. 



No class of plants will respond 

 more freely with beauty, fruits and 

 rs than the cacti under intelli- 

 and liberal treatment, and few 

 will survive the neglect and abuse un- 

 der which they will maintain an exis- 

 tence. One plant from the arid re- 

 gion of Mexico I kept from soil and 

 water for a period of three years, and 

 it is now growing and making up for 

 lost time in my garden. 



Fifty plants of Echinocactus John- 

 soni, a rare species occurring in 

 Southern Utah, although given every 

 reasonable care, and supplied sparing- 

 ly with water, all died in my garden 

 in two or three months after trans- 

 planting. The rare Cereus striatus 

 also all died before I could return 

 from Mexico, after collecting them. 

 But these could probably heve been 

 saved, by grafting onto hardier stock. 



One dwarf species once sold in En- 

 rope for a thousand francs each and 

 even recently a fine plant of Echino- 

 cactus Grusoni has sold in England 

 for $250 and cheap at the price. 

 These plants were equally sought by 

 prince and slave, as today by the mil- 



786 



lionaire and the pauper. Prince 

 Joseph de Salm-Dyck was one of the 

 earliest admirers, and published a val- 

 uable work on the family. And scarce 

 a home so humble in Mexico today 

 that a few cannot be cultivated around 

 the opening that serves for a door. 



I am asked to give a few hints for a 

 school garden of these grotesque 

 plants. Liberal space should be al- 

 lowed for the introduced tunas of 

 Mexico, which readily grow from cut- 

 tings obtainable anywhere in South- 

 ern California, and which will quickly 

 form formidable hedges. The native 

 Opuntias and all others that can be 

 obtained should next be given plenty 

 of room according to the needs of 

 each variety as far as known. The 

 Cerei (if available) would require the 

 next largest space. Last, but not 

 least in interest would be the Echino- 

 cacti and dainty Mammillarias in end- 

 less grotesque or beautifully symme- 

 trical forms, which would naturally be 

 grouped together in a bed, as each 

 would require but little room to grow 

 in. A few inches of sand could profit- 

 ably be used over the soil before 

 planting these latter, and weeds 

 should be eradicated before they 

 gain a foothold. Plants other than 

 cacti like Yuccas, Agaves and Aloes, 

 should be kept separate the Yuccas 

 given plenty of room to grow in, as 

 much space as palms, while the 

 Agaves and Aloes will often require 

 much greater area at maturity than 

 would be anticipated from the young 

 plants, though a few species are al- 

 ways adapted to pot culture, and may 

 be more easily cared for if not 

 planted out in the open. 



First learn as much as possible 

 about each variety before planting, 

 and the results will be more satisfac- 

 tory. As there are now useful Gar- 

 dening Dictionaries accessible in most 

 public libraries, information of this 

 character should not be neglected, 

 nor ignorance given as an excuse for 

 failure. 



Native species should not be neg- 

 lected, but given the greatest promin- 

 ence, and the modest cactus garden 

 may grow eventually into a genuine 

 botanical garden. 



