7 6 Gardening in Egypt. 



which are cultivated in pots, in a compost of rich 

 sandy soil and broken brick or sandstone, and trained 

 on wire into an umbrella form. About the middle 

 of June, established plants that have bloomed the 

 previous season, should be plunged with their pots 

 in the soil in a sunny position so as to ripen their 

 wood, and the plants may be taken up for the verandah 

 or house when their buds appear. Weak manure-water 

 should be given them during their growing season. 



Mesembryanthemum Fig Marigold. A section of 

 dwarf creeping succulents. Natives chiefly of South 

 Africa, to which belong some three or four hundred 

 varieties. 



M. crystallinum Ice Plant Grassul. This species 

 is said by some authorities to be a native of Greece, 

 while others say it belongs to the Canary Islands. 



In Egypt it grows in great abundance on the coast, 

 and covers the low, barren hills in the neighbourhood 

 of Alexandria, where the plants are collected into 

 heaps in July and August, dried in the sun, and burnt 

 by the Arabs, who use the ashes for soap-making. 

 The plant has thick, fleshy leaves, covered with watery 

 globules, and bears in May a number of white star-like 

 flowers. 



M. edule The Hottentot Fig. A species with long 

 thick leaves, and yellow or pink flowers. The plant 

 is suitable for covering dry banks and hot sandy 

 places, as it thrives without any attention or water 

 when the cuttings have once rooted, being fed from 

 the myriads of spores which cover the leaves and 

 supply the plants with moisture from the dew. 



M. cordifolium. A small-leaved variety, is used in 

 the gardens for edging purposes during the summer, 

 forming a green border from long cuttings that have 

 their ends planted in the soil. 



M. roseum, M. nodiflorum^ M. acinafonne^ and 

 others are also grown. 



Yucca gloriosa Adam's Needle. An ornamental, 

 shrub-like plant with a large thorn at the apex of 



