54 



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 

 flowers than the cacti under intelli- 

 gent 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 1 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 Eu- 

 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- 

 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 



C. R. ORCUTT. 



KUNZITE. 



Dr. Charles Baskeirville, of the Univer- 

 sity of North Carolina., has named a Cal- 

 if ornia gem in honor of George Frederick 

 Kunz, president of the New York Miner - 

 alcgical club. This new variety of spodu- 

 mene was discovered in considerable 

 abundance near Palla, San Diego county, 

 California, and is very beautiful, when 

 cut and mounted, approaching some 

 forms of topaz and sapphires, of a rosy 

 lilac in color, of a rich amethystine hue 

 when viewed lengthwise. 



SOUTH W EOT E RN CRASSU L ACE AE . 



The following relative to Southern Cal- 

 ifornia plants is here reproduced, with 

 other notes and selections: 



Genus SEDUM Linnaeus. 



SEDUM SPATHULIPOLIUM Hook. 



"Glabrous, glaucous or pulverulent; lvs 

 b readily spatulate, obtuse: the uppermost 

 small; stems decumbent at the base; 

 cyme compound; fls sillghtly pedicellate, 

 decandrous; petals (yellow) linear-lance- 

 olate, acute, much longer than the calyx, 

 scarcely exceeding the stamens."— Torr 



16 FEB. 1907 



