GENERAL REVIEW. 



in warm sheltered situations grow freely if sown as soon as 

 ripe in pots or pans of sandy soil, and protected in a pit or 

 frame from which frost is excluded; for although the plants 

 are hardy, the young seedlings are verjr tender in their earlier 

 stages, and suffer much from damp or cold rains. 



Agave (American Aloes). A noble and extensive genus of 

 succulent Amaryllidaceous plants, natives of South America, a 

 large proportion of the species being natives of Mexico. The 

 common A. aniericana and its variegated-leaved forms are well- 

 known representatives of this genus in gardens. In Mexico, 

 Agaves are commonly planted in rows, so as to form impene- 

 trable fences. A tough fibre is produced by the macerated 

 leaves, and is largely used in rope and paper making. The 

 expressed juice of the leaves is used in soap-making, and 

 several varieties of intoxicating liquors are made of it by fer- 

 mentation. About 100 species are known in our gardens, some 

 seedling forms of these as A. Vtrschaffeltii, A. Besserriana, 

 and A. horrida, for example being extremely variable. The 

 best private collection in this country is that formed by J. T. 

 Peacock, Esq., Sudbury House, Hammersmith, and the genus 

 is well represented in the botanic collection at Kew. As a 

 rule, the species are readily propagated by offsets, which are in 

 many cases freely produced, especially after the parent plant 

 has bloomed ; and in some cases offsets are produced on the 

 flower-stem. Seeds are freely produced, and hybrids may be 

 obtained by artificial fertilisation. As we have said, Agaves 

 bear seed freely even in cultivation ; and these seedlings 

 vary so much in vigour, and even in habit of growth, that it 

 would be interesting to make a series of careful experiments 

 to see whether the quantity of pollen placed on the stigma 

 influences the vigour of the resulting seedlings in any way. 

 When I was in the Royal Gardens at Kew, several Agaves 

 of the spicate group produced flower - spikes, the flowers of 

 which are arranged in pairs spirally around the central stem. 

 The lower flowers open first ; and so far as my observation 

 went, they are not fertilised by their own pollen, the style 

 not being perfectly developed at the time its attendant anthers 

 shed their pollen ; but after these have shed their pollen, 

 and hang limp and lifeless, the stigma has attained its full 

 length, the swollen apex is viscid, and it becomes fertilised 

 by pollen which is shed by the flowers now open above. A 

 most copious supply of pollen is afforded by these plants ; and 

 although they do not need the agency of insects to assist in 

 their nuptials, their aid is nevertheless generally forthcoming, 

 even in a state of cultivation, owing to the ample feast of nectar 



