M'hitosh's Green-house, Hot-house, and Stove. 29 



should present to the horizon ThS Horticultural Trans- 

 actions and the Encyclopaedia of Gardening contain a variety of 

 opinions on this subject; but, so far as we know, few hot-houses 

 have been erected with much attention to the niceties of these 

 theories." (p. 54.) See Penny Cyc, art. Hot-house. 



In looking over the work, we found the following interesting 

 and original information, contributed to it by Mr. Beaton, the 

 scientific and eminently successful gardener of James Harris, 

 Esq., F.H S., of Kingsbury : — 



Cacti. Mr. Beaton is of opinion that the genera Cactus and 

 Mammillaria are not distinct. Mammillaria is generally consi- 

 dered as destitute of a woody axis, or central column ; but Mr. 

 Beaton asserts that all the sections of the genus Mammillaria 

 have not only a woody axis, but a medulliferous column in the 

 centre of this woody axis, like other exogenous plants. The 

 axis is not formed during the first kw years of the plant's exist- 

 ence, and this is what has led botanists astray. Mr. Beaton is 

 of opinion that Melocactus, Echinocactus, and Mammillaria will 

 not throw out roots from cuttings till they have formed their 

 woody axis; while, on the other hand, Opuntia and Epiphyllum, 

 the young shoots of which are analogous to leaves, throw out 

 roots from all parts of their surface. In gathering Cacti in their 

 native habitats, the collector too often pulls them up by main 

 force ; in consequence of which, " the fibres which connect the 

 central woody column with the succulent part of the plant, are 

 broken, and the death of the plant ensues. 



" During last summer, a fine collection was brought over from Mexico by 

 a Frenchman, who lost some splendid specimens through his ignorance of 

 this connexion of the central column with the plant. Mr. Harris bought 

 some of the best of the dead specimens for his cabinet, and very luckily I got 

 seeds out of all of them, and thus preserved them to the country; the seed- 

 lings under my care exceed ten thousand in number, from this importation 

 alone. In raising young seedlings, sow the seeds in pure sand, keep them 

 constantly moist, and transplant them, as soon as you can get hold of them, in 

 sand well drained ; give as much heat and moisture as your means will allow, 

 and keep up this stimulus till they have begun to form their woody centre, 

 when they must be more sparingly watered. As a means of extending the 

 cultivation of succulents in general, the hybridist should exercise his art. 

 The Mesembryanthema might be crossed till they would vie with the Cinerarise, 

 and the Aloes till they surpass the Gesneriae." 



We agree with Mr. M'Intosh, that it is impossible sufficiently 

 to 



" Commend Mr. Harris for possessing himself of these splendid accessions 

 to the Cacti already known, or Mr. Beaton for his zeal and intelligence dis- 

 played in obtaining the seeds from many of the dead species of the melon- 

 shaped kinds. The seeds of this are mostly embedded in a soft downy moss, 

 which is thrown up from their top, even long after they are dead, and may 

 also be discovered by cutting the plants transversely across ; but, so far as we 

 know, this is a discovery to the credit of which Mr. Harris and his gardener 

 are alone entitled. Mr. Harris has in his herbarium one species, Cereus 



