38 OENAMENTAL FOLUGE PLANTS. 



and we trust that both professional and amateur horti- 

 culturists will speedily be brought to recognise their 

 merits and extend their cultivation ; we allude specially 

 to the genera Agave, Tucca, Fourcroya, Dasylirion, 

 Beauoarnea, and a few others. 



The plants belonging to this group are very easy to 

 ■cultivate, and they will bear with impunity a greater 

 amount of neglect than almost any other plants. That 

 such is the case is most .unfortunate for them, for their 

 ■endurance has been put to such severe tests that starvation 

 has set in, and in this state the plants may be made to 

 assume such a miserable appearance, that the possessor 

 is likely to become indifferent to them, and in such cases 

 indifference soon leads to disgust, and the plants are 

 •either disposed of or thrown away ; and thus, simply 

 ■because they do not, when under a system of starvation, 

 :assume the characters which are produced in vigorous 

 health and under liberal and genial treatment, the whole 

 ■class of succulents is voted uninteresting and worthless. 

 We cannot, therefore, but declare that their patient en- 

 ■durance, and wonderful tenacity of life, is a misfortune. 



In speaking of liberal treatment for these plants, it 

 will be well to state our exact meaning, for the term 

 has certainly a somewhat different meaning when applied 

 to succulents as compared with most other plants. We 

 will, therefore, lay down a few general rules for their 

 management. The first and all-important point is good 

 •drainage, which cannot be defective for even a short time 

 without producing injurious effects upon the plants. For 

 soil we prefer good loam and peat, in the proportion of 

 two parts of the former to one of the latter, to which 

 should be added some sand and broken bricks. Potting 

 should be performed towards the end of spring or 



