ways ; either the whole of the species with ribbed, and round 

 or oblong stems may be placed in Echinocactus, and the rest 

 in Cereus, without regard to the flowers ; or all the long 

 flowered species may be placed in Cereus, and those with 

 short flowers in Echinocactus, without regard to habit. In 

 either case there are difiiculties, for there are species whose 

 flowers are intermediate between the long-tubed and short- 

 tubed forms, and others whose stems are intermediate between 

 the round and the cylindrical, or flattened or long condition. 

 On this account it seems to me better to take the stem as the 

 distinctive character, because it is the most obvious, unless it 

 should be thought better to combine Echinocactus and 

 Cereus into one genus. 



The seeds should be sown in silver-sand and very slightly 

 covered ; they should then be placed in a dry bottom heat 

 and covered with a bell-glass. The young plants should be 

 potted in pots of the smallest size, well drained, and chiefly 

 in sand. Afterwards the soil used should never be too rich, 

 and well mixed with broken stones or bricks. The plant 

 may be preserved in a cool dry house where the temperature 

 is very low, but a slight bottom heat in the growing season 

 will always be found to suit it best. 



It seldom sends out shoots from its sides, and therefore it 

 is difiicult to obtain cuttings ; but where propagation is of 

 more consequence than a specimen plant, it should be cut 

 across, when the top part will form one plant, and the bottom 

 will send out shoots from the sides of the cut. Cuttings 

 should be treated precisely in the same way as seedlings. 



