272 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
deep and brilliant scarlet, and therefore most effective. The plant 
is rather long-jointed, but its other good qualities quite atone for 
this trifling defect, and it may be recommended as one of the finest 
of its class, and well worthy of general cultivation. It was one of a 
series distributed for the first time by Mr. H. Cannell, of Woolwich, 
in the spring of last year, and the accompanying illustration v*'as 
taken from a truss produced in his nursery. 
THE IDLE MAN’S CONSEEVATOET. 
BY T. WILLIAMS, 
Garden Superintendent, Crystal Palace, Sydenham. 
UCCULENT and hard-leaved plants are especiallv 
deserving of the attention of business men, who are 
usually away from home all day, for they require but 
little attention to keep them in good trim, and they do 
not suffer materially in health if forgotten for a few 
days. They also possess a very interesting and attractive appear- 
ance throughout the whole year, and by those who have a collection 
they are much appreciated during the winter season. It will be thus 
seen how much better adapted they are for small gardens, where the 
proprietor is seldom at home, and no regular gardener employed, than 
the usual stock of soft-wooded plants, which require unremitting 
attention, and, unless they have it, quickly become infested with green- 
fly, red-spider, and other plant pests, and ultimately perish. With a 
stock of succulents, the proprietor of the conservatory will always 
have something to admire, and be able to leave home without having 
any occasion for fearing that any individual in the collection will 
suiter for the want of water, or any other attention, whilst he is 
necessarily absent. The fact of being able to cultivate a moderate col- 
lection in the glass cases attached to suburban villas, which are usually 
designated conservatories by the builders, is a great point in their 
favour. In these little structures it is, even with the greatest care 
and attention, extremely difficult to grow geraniums, fuchsias, aud 
other soft- wooded plants, with any degree of success; but they 
are just the place for the agaves and other succulents, as they will 
thrive in a temperature sufficient to roast more tender subjects. 
One of the principal matters to consider is the selection of the 
most distinct and ornamental kinds suitable for the formation of a 
small collection. Indeed, w'ilh the purchase of the plants all diffi- 
culties are made an end of, for they are most easily managed. 
Amongst the Agaves are some very ornamental subjects. A. Ame- 
ricana, A. a. variegata, and A. a. medio picta, are bold and handsome 
in appearance, and can be highly recommended. A. Celiciana, A. 
coccinca, A. Salmiana, anA. A. Scliidigera, are of medium size ; and 
A. applanata, A. Besseriana Candida, A. jilifera variegata, A. macro- 
dontlia, and A. Verschaffelti, are of small growth, and form neat 
