arance when
wild, yet we know that the same conditions as regards heat, light, and
moisture are necessary for small Cactuses as for full-grown ones.

Although the places in which Cactuses naturally abound are, for the
greater portion of the year, very dry and warm, heavy rains are more or
less frequent during certain periods, and these, often accompanied by
extreme warmth and bright sunshine, have an invigorating and almost
forcing effect on the growth of Cactuses. It is during this rainy period
that the whole of the growth is made, and new life is, as it were, given
to the plant, its reservoir-like structure enabling it to store up a
large amount of food and moisture, so that on the return of dry weather
the safety of the plant is insured.

It is to the management of Cactuses in a small state, such as is most
convenient for our plant-houses, and not to the cultivation of those
colossal species referred to above, that the instructions given here
will be for the most part devoted; but, as in the case of almost every
one of our cultivated plants, it is important to the cultivator to know
something of the conditions which Nature has provided for Cactuses in
those lands where they are native.

There is nothing in the nature or the requirements of Cactuses that
should render their successful management beyond the means of anyone who
possesses a small, heated greenhouse, or even a window recess to which
sunlight can be admitted during some portion of the day. In large
establishments, such as Kew, it is possible to provide a spacious house
specially for the cultivation of an extensive collection, where many of
them may attain a good size before becoming too big. And it will be
evident that where a house such as that at Kew can be afforded, much
more satisfactory results may generally be obtained, than if plants have
to be provided for in a house containing various other plants, or in the
window of a dwelling-room. Apart altogether from size, it is, however,
possible to grow a collection of Cactuses, and to grow them well, in a
house of small dimensions--given the amount of sunlight and heat which
are required by these plants. We sometimes see Cactuses--specimens,
too, of choice and rare kinds--which have been reared in a cottager's
window or in a small greenhouse, and which in health and beauty have at
least equalled what has been accomplished in the most elaborately
prepared houses. It may be said that these successes, unde