24 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



HARDY CACTI AND OTHER SUCCULENTS. 

 By E. A. Bowles, M.A., F.L.S., F.E.S. 



[Lecture delivered April 14, 1908.] 



When I undertook to lecture upon the Cacti and other succulent plants 

 that had proved hardy here in Middlesex on a specially constructed bank 

 of my rock-garden, I thought the size of my collection and the healthiness 

 of the plants warranted my so doing. 



Then came one of the most destructive winters I have ever experienced 

 in the garden. Bitter winds with sharp frosts — as much as 26 degrees one 

 night — and a cold spring, after the sunless cool summer of 1907, have 

 between them decimated the ranks of my Cacti. The ground was cold and 

 damp so early in the autumn that I believe the roots of many rotted 

 away instead of drying up when I put on the overhead lights in 

 November. 



I have in consequence a long list of the slain to read to you, and this 

 afternoon's meeting partakes so much of the nature of a memorial service 

 that I feel somewhat chary of giving any advice as to the cultivation of 

 these plants for fear you will class me with the good lady who, resenting 

 a kindly hint from a district visitor upon the management of her babe, 

 answered, " Me not know how to bring up children indeed ! Haven't 

 I buried twelve of 'em ? " 



Two wheelbarrows full of rotten pieces of Cacti are, then, my qualifi- 

 cations for addressing you. 



There are, of course, many succulent plants, such as the Sedunas and 

 Sempervivums of northern latitudes, that are absolutely hardy in Britain ; 

 but I wish to speak of kinds that are generally considered tender and 

 more fitting for greenhouse cultivation than for the open air. 



It is, I think, twelve years since I began growing a few Opuntias on 

 a raised bank of the rock-garden. They flourished so well that I extended 

 the bank, building it up with special drainage to suit xerophytic plants. 



It lies facing due south, and is backed by a hedge of evergreens, and 

 I placed a layer of brick rubble and coarse gravel of about the depth of 

 1H inches under the soil throughout, constructing gullies to carry off the 

 rainfall, and placing drain pipes, leading into these gullies, in some parts. 



The soil is chiefly turfy loam mixed liberally with old mortar rubbish, 

 silver sand, sandy peat, and some well- weathered cinders from the 

 furnaces. 



I consider that, provided the plants are well watered in very hot 

 weather, and fed with a little guano during their early growing period, 

 the general soil cannot be too light or too poor for these Cacti. 



I keep some glazed lights, from an old vinery, on purpose for covering 

 this Cactus bank in winter. They are placed overhead from November to 

 April, resting on posts driven into the ground, but having the sides open 

 to the air. In ordinary seasons the early part of November is sunny 



