MANAGEMENT OF MELON-SHAPED CACTI. 
415 
whicli has been for year3 called shallow and 
unprofitable, will be far better than the owner 
could anticipate. In gravelly soil the ground 
would soon become stony, but excellent pro- 
duce will come off" stony ground ; and by pick- 
ing the largest off from time to time, even the 
gravel brought up will be anything but un- 
profitable in the culture. The worse the 
ground is in its subsoil, the less must be 
brought up from time to time ; but whether 
clay, gravel, or chalk, attention to these mat- 
ters will be repaid by a deeper cultivatible 
soil ; and by proper dressings according to its 
nature, additional produce will be obtained. 
In a hot border seated on gravel, and from its 
extreme thin coating no doubt greatly robbed, 
we once made the gardener dig in the way we 
have mentioned, and throw up some of the 
gravel. By dint of high dressing we had fine 
crops of vegetables ; and in the course of four 
years, instead of seven or eight inches, which 
was the extent the spade would go, we had a 
workable soil, stony it is true, more than a 
good spade would reach at once ; and by re- 
moving the largest of the gravel stones from 
time to time, we had as useful a border as any 
of our neighbours. The greatest inconveni- 
ence we suffered, was in the rapid absorption 
of water, and the consequent loss of manure ; 
but even this was got over by top dressing, 
instead of digging in ; by which means it had 
to work into the roots, instead of, as at first, 
when it was dug in, work into the ground 
below them. We do not admire shallow soils, 
and hungry, unprofitable subsoils ; but we are 
quite sure the ground is improved by bringing 
up a little of it every time it is dug or trenched, 
and by dressing it according to its nature. In 
the first instance, a good strong workman could 
bring up enough by common digging ; but a 
great deal of good is done by loosening the 
bottom, and this can only be done by trench- 
ing, or what is called by the gardeners bastard 
trenching ; and we strongly recommend all 
who have such soils, to try the experiment on 
a few rods ; for they will not be long before 
they carry the operation through all their 
jrround. 
THE MANAGEMENT OF MELON-SHAPED 
CACTI. 
The old notions about the necessity of grow- 
ing this interesting tribe of plants in brick 
rubbish or poor soil has, of late years, been 
exploded by the number of experiments which 
have been tried by the numerous growers, 
who, having no particular directions for their 
culture, have taken their own means of ad- 
vancing their growth. For instance, when 
Hungerford Market, some years ago, was the 
scene of barter and sale of endless varieties, 
brought by some foreigners from the Brazils 
and South America, they were lotted in 
quantities comprising many different kinds ; 
and these lots were picked up by young and 
old cultivators, who treated them all manner 
of ways; and I happened to see the culture of 
four different individuals, three of whom com- 
paratively failed, while the fourth succeeded 
beyond all my expectations. The three who 
failed, by comparison, potted their novelties in 
the poor soil, composed of brick rubbish and 
other matter, void of what is called richness 
or manure of any kind, and planted them in 
different positions ; the one using a conserva- 
tory, which, having occasionally stove plants 
in it, was kept up to a temperature of what 
would be called a warm green-house ; two 
others treated the strangers as subjects which 
required a constant eye, and so used their pro- 
pagating houses. The fourth potted them in 
rich compost ; that is to say, the loam from 
rotted turfs, and melon-bed dung turned to 
mould, in equal quantities, and placed them at 
once into bottom heat, in a regular stove. 
Here they started into rapid growth, and 
were kept moist. In less than one year they 
had nearly doubled their size, while none of 
the other three had made much progress, and 
had lost several. Seed which were found active 
in two or three of the species were sown at the 
time the old plants were potted, and treated in 
the same way, with bottom heat, rich com- 
post, and stove temperature. At the resting 
season, the old ones were placed on shelves, 
and watered no more. When they indicated 
fresh growth, they were repotted in larger- 
sized pots, and the roots were found, on their 
removal, to have filled the originals. These 
were again placed in bottom heat, — that is to 
say, plunged into the tan which had been 
made up for pines, — and again grew rapidly, 
under the same management as before. With 
this treatment, they soon made handsome 
specimens, and were dispersed among collectors 
at high prices. Some other specimens, be- 
longing to the other growers, were even the 
third season in their original pots, and had 
made as little, and in some cases not so much, 
progress as those under stove treatment had 
in the first. With some difficulty, one of the 
three parties was induced to adopt stove treat- 
ment, to shake out the old poor stuff, and put 
them into better, following, under advice, the 
successful treatment spoken of; and they ad- 
vanced more in six weeks, or two months, 
than they had in the three seasons altogether. 
Nor were there any exceptions ; but the two 
or three specimens (duplicates of some parted 
with) left in the hands of the original stove- 
cultivator continued, of course, wonderfully 
in advance of the others, keeping the head 
fully. From these facts, I come to the fol- 
