THE cactus is a curiosity, one of the wonders of the vegetable kingdom. It is unusual, and therefore always bold and striking. For this reason it is a favorite with many as an object of ornamentation in lawns, and the species are often used in composition for landscape effect. In fact, so common is this use of cactuses that we may take them to represent a type of ornamentation which is characterized by obtruaiveness and uncommonness. This is almost universally the form adopted by those who have a shallow love of nature. It indicates that the designer is less in sympathy with his surroundings than with other regions, and that his desires are to be satisfied only by something which appeals at once to the eye as peculiar. Such types of gardens are common. One frequently sees glaring curves, angular banks, balanced figures, piles of stones, curiosities and abundance of abnormal and unusual trees and plants, but he rarely finds a picture painted in a landscape with the same taste that the artist defines and composes on his canvas.

And even when we do find a garden created in the love and appreciation of nature we are too apt to pass it by as tame or commonplace.

It is apparent that if cacti are to be used in landscape work, they must be treated wholly as accessories are treated, in the same manner as we treat a rockery or anything which is out of keeping with the general spirit of the scene. They should be inconspicuous, unless perhaps near a greenhouse or in restricted areas devoted to rarities and curiosities. In this climate they should never form an integral part of the landscape, for they never combine well with greensward and trees; or if they are used in the more natural portions of the grounds, they should always be partially concealed.

But we are not to be understood as discouraging the cultivation of cactuses. We are only protesting against the grossness of fashion and taste which is too often confounded with landscape gardening. Fashion often springs from an inharmony with nature, while landscape gardening is always inspired by the genius of contiguous landscapes. As greenhouse plants, cactuses possess many merits, and are eminently worth much more general cultivation. They possess, in a remarkable degree, curiousness and beauty, and they present an almost endless variety of forms and peculiarities. They afford innumerable surprises. Probably nearly, if not quite all the species, will some day find their way into cultivation. They are mostly easy of management, and they take kindly to adverse conditions. Many of the species hybridize freely, and they can be grafted with the greatest ease. They also vary widely under cultivation into the most grotesque forms. This variation is largely in the direction of fasciation or the flattening or cox-combing of the parts. The peculiarities of shape and form, combined with the great beauty of their flowers are the very features which tend to make them common favorites for lawn decoration.

But everything must have its place, and it should be borne in mind that cactuses are valuable as cactuses, not as elements in the landscapes of our climates.