CACTI Ill 
in winter, but when the plants are set outside in a 
well drained position in summer they should be 
showered frequently. As to temperature, although 
they come from hot climates, most of the sorts will 
stand as low as thirty-five degrees without injury. 
Just before and during the blooming period about 
sixty degrees is desirable, but forty-five to fifty 
degrees will be better at other times. Where room 
is lacking, they may, for the most part, be wintered 
over in the cellar, as described previously for other 
plants (page 71). Propagation is performed either 
by seeds or cuttings, the latter being the more gen- 
erally used, as they root very readily — just break 
a piece off and stick it in the sand. 
Considered from the layman’s point of view, cacti 
are made up of two classes: those which are valued 
for their wonderful flowers and those which excite 
curiosity by their weird habits of growth. Some 
of the latter — such as the Crown of Thorns and 
the Mammullaria — have small or infrequent flowers. 
Specimens of this class, well cared for, are worthy 
of a place in any collection of flowering plants. 
They will stand, especially during the flowering 
period, weak applications of manure water. 
The Epiphyllums or Crab cacti (Ephiphyllum 
truncatum and its varieties) are by far the most 
valuable, because of their profuse and long flower- 
ing season, especially as it comes in the winter when 
bright flowers are scarce. E. t. coccineum, with 
