SUCCULENT PLANTS. 



403 



with some lime in it, and any good loam of this description is 

 likely to answer well. Stones may be interspersed in the soil with 

 advantage. It is advisable to keep off rain in winter by means of 

 glass, but the strong-growing kinds if well ripened may be expected 

 to succeed without this protection.* 



Agave. — Next in importance to the Cactaceae on the American 

 Continent are the Agaves or American Aloes. They extend over the whole 

 of tropical America, and are especially abundant in Mexico and the Southern 

 United States. A. americana, and, I have no doubt, its allies, produce 

 the celebrated liquor known as Pulque ; and of great economic importance 

 is the fibre known as Sisal Hemp, produced by A. rigida var. sisalana. 

 To this genus belong some of the most imposing plants that can be grown 

 in the largest of cool garden structures. The finest set perhaps in the 



'IA ROBUST A. 



world is thatatKew. A selection might include A. Victoriac-Reginae, A. 

 Morrisii, A. Elcmeetiana, A. schidigera, A. striata in several forms, and 

 A. attenuata with stem several feet long ; but selection is difficult to make. 

 It is marvellous that these fine plants should be so little grown. There 

 are many species, and Mr. Baker in his " Monograph of the Amaryllideae " 

 enumerates 138. All are not equally worth growing, but nurserymen 

 when they get orders know very well as a rule how to find the best. 

 With one exception the genus Agave is without close relationship in the 



* The student and grower of Cactaceae will find the following works very useful : 

 Gesamtbeschreibung der Kakteen (Monographia Cactacearum). By Professor Karl 



Schumann. Neudam : Verlag von J. Neumann, 1899. This is the latest monograph 



of the natural order. 



Cactus Culture for Amateurs. By W. Watson, Boyal Gardens, Kew. L. Upcott - 

 Gill, 170 Strand. This book is essential to the amateur in Britain, 



Cactaceous Plants : their History and Culture. By Lewis Castle, Journal of 

 Horticulture Office, Fleet Street. 



