(>\ THK ( fl.TIVATION OF CAC'TrS SPKCIOSISSIMUS. 171 



and I find my account in it by getting fine bloom ; for v. lion they 

 are kept in a state of excitement during the winter, the. foliagefe 

 Henerallv fine in the spring, but the bloom is ihe reverse. About 

 the last week or ten days of. February, if not then frosty, I set thrw 

 to irork ; and a< I like a quick growth, 1 water them every day, 

 and let them have besides ;ill the mild, moderate .showers that fall, 

 keeping on the lights as soon as the trusses appear, and on frosty 

 nights cover up with t\\o or three mats, and continue to do so 

 during March and as much of April as may be cold. But by 

 letting them have all the air possible, without a draft of wind, I 

 pre\ent their being drawn up. During the March winds, 1 screen 

 them with a curtain of mats at a short distance from the framd, 

 and protect them from the sun during the bloom by an awning of 

 white calico ; and if the sun shines \ery hot, 1 place a mat ofcer 

 the awning. Snowdrop. 



ARTICLE II. — On ihe Cultivation of Cactus sjjeciosis- 

 ximus. By J. B. Denton, Esq. 



Two or three queries have appeared in the Cabinet, requiring 

 information on the cultivation of that beautiful plant, Cactus spe- 

 eiosissimus ; in answer to which I beg to forward the following, 

 for the information of " C. C C. C." and "An Amateur," as 

 my mode of treatment, and what 1 think will be found the " proper 

 culture of it as a greenhouse plant." 



Three years ago, having two strong, good-sized plants, that had 

 always stood upon a shelf in the greenhouse (lining the winter, 

 and wltc placed in the open air for the summer months, but had 

 ne\er shown blossom, I resolved to try the experiment on one of 

 titan; of reducing the shoots, which were then 18 inches long, to 

 the length of a foot ; and these ends, after being left to dry, were 

 Ktk with my Geranium cuttings, which 1 was just then disjoin- 

 Irom the plants receiving their spring pruning. It was after- 

 wards taken from the bouse, and plunged in the border up to the 

 niu o*' ihe pot, lo remain till the end of AttgUSl ; when it was 

 repotted in fresh loam and lime rubbish, and carried back to its 

 former place. I gave it no water till it showed bud in the latter 

 rod "I" March, from which tiroo, ;is the s^uson and blossoms ad- 



