150 ON THE TREATMENT OF CACTI. 



to clean away any mould accidentally fallen on the crown, and set 

 the plants on a stage or shelf as near the glass as possible, and over 

 the flue as well, if practicable. A good heat, close house, not too 

 damp, and moderate moisture to the roots ; if this shifting is done in 

 April or May, will make such an alteration in the course of a little 

 while as will rather surprise those who have been used to see these 

 plants as they are too often to be found in collections. As they get 

 established, free air and a full exposure to the sun, and a gradual 

 diminution of water, will prepare them for passing the winter in good 

 order. On the first increase of heat, and application of water in the 

 spring, those large enough to flower may be expected to do so strongly 

 and perfect their seeds. But many species seem to be nearly always 

 in bloom, and of some of the Mammillarias, the flowers are so incon- 

 spicuous as frequently to escape detection until their berries appear. 



" Opuntia, Pereskia/and Rhipsalis, will be found to succeed under 

 similar treatment, the Pereskias and more leafy Opuntias requiring 

 more water and richer soil than the others, if the intention is to grow 

 the plants to their full development. 



" Seed is produced freely by many species, and it is also generally 

 to be found among the spines of imported Echinocacti and Mammil- 

 larias. It should be sown thinly in well-drained pots and very sandy 

 loam, or in a covering of white sand, above such loam, 

 kept moderately moist and in a very warm part of the house. 

 Such will soon vegetate, and must be carefully guarded against all 

 stagnation of water or sign of damp. They will grow freely, and no 

 hurry need be made in potting them off, as, when very small, they 

 are apt to get squeezed too much, and thus checked. 



" The grafting of Cacti is so easily performed as to hardly require 

 notice. Some, from entertaining an idea that the Echinocacti and 

 Opuntii do not produce a sufficiency of roots to grow freely, have 

 produced such unnatural monsters, that they have rather tended to 

 lessen than encourage the cultivation of this grotesque family of 

 plants. Fancy a middling sized Echinocactus Eyriesii stuck on a 

 wiry stem of Pereskia aculeata, like a drum-stick stuck into the pot j 

 A writer on this subject informs us that the graft will soon begin to 

 form roots and send them down the Pereskia, which they may be 

 encouraged to do by y ng moss round the stock, or they may be 

 left to themselves to add to the singularity of the monster. This 



