224 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL, 
THE CULTIVATION OF GLOBULAR CACTEAL 
This section of the varied and grand order Nopaleae occupies 
an eminent station in the vegetable kingdom, and engrosses no 
small share of the attention of a large proportion of the most 
enthusiastic of Flora’s admirers — the amateur cultivator. We 
have before hinted our belief that the whole family of Cacti 
would, on strict examination, be found to constitute no more 
than one, or at most two genera; yet such is the love of inno¬ 
vation and the desire of individuals to distinguish themselves, 
that a dozen genera is scarcely sufficient to satisfy some of our 
savans. The nomenclature of the group of plants, known by 
the familiar appellative Cacti, is now as Ericas are, and as 
some other genera promise to be shortly, especially Orchideae, 
a complete jumble of heterogeneous nonsense ; nor do we envy 
the individual who attempts the righting of this Augean mass; 
but until it is set about, the subject will increase in difficulty, 
for every one, to render their remarks intelligible, must, from 
necessity, use the present unauthoritative and erroneous divi¬ 
sions called genera. 
Our remarks in this paper will be chiefly on the cultivation 
of those sections known as Echino- and Melo-Cactus — Ma- 
millaria, — and some of the genus Cereus. It was very general 
some years since (and is still too frequent) to pot these plants 
in a mixture, the chief part of which was brick rubbish, and to 
keep them continually in a dry arid atmosphere. This, it was 
argued, was the most natural position for plants which are 
natives of the warmest and driest parts of the tropics ; but it 
was forgotten that these localities receive deluges of rain at 
certain intervals; and it was then not so certain as now, that 
we may sometimes, by the judicious application of art, arrive at 
results unknown or unfrequent in nature. It is undoubtedly of 
the first consequence that the circumstances by which plants 
are found affected in a state of nature should be well con¬ 
sidered by the cultivator before he commences operating on 
newly-imported subjects, and the predominant ones adopted 
as the basis for the artificial treatment: yet it does not follow 
that every wild plant is found in the best possible situation for 
the fullest development of its parts. Taking this into account, 
