CACTI. 



Fic. 1289.— NioHT Blooming Cbrecs. 



hairs. It is one of the wonders of plant 

 Hfe, I have never heard of its blooming 

 and think a flower on it would be an 

 incongruity. Of the round spiny Hedge- 

 hog cacti there are various families and 

 numberless varieties, nearly all are free- 

 flowering, and their various colored 

 spines make them handsome plants 

 when not in flower. The Opuntia fam- 

 ily are excellent bloomers, the great 

 drawback to their cultivation is their 

 spines which are very fine and slightly 

 barbed so that they pierce the skin 



^d^iJ 



>u —Opuntia. 



readily and are painful and difficult to 

 remove. In districts where they live 

 outside, and do not require handling, 

 they make magnificent display of bril- 

 liant flowers, a clump in bloom is a 

 sight worth going to see. The condi- 

 tions necessary to success in growing 

 cacti are more easily provided than for 

 most other plants, and may be briefly 

 summed up as follows. Sandy porous 

 soil, small pots, all the sunlight and 

 heat possible in summer, with plenty of 

 water, but cool and dry in winter. If 

 the temperature 

 is over 50 de- 

 grees in winter 

 they require 

 some water to 

 prevent drying 

 out altogether, 

 but not sufficient 

 to start growth, 

 they require to 

 rest. 



As a class they 

 are not much 

 troubled by in- 

 sects or subject 

 to disease. The 

 mealy bug is 

 about the only 

 troublesome in- 

 sect, and for that 

 spraying with 

 alcohol is a cer- 

 tain remedy. 



Rot is caused 

 by over water- 

 ing as soon as 

 seen cut off the 

 deca y e d part 

 backtothe fresh, 

 lay in the sun for 

 several day until 

 the cut has cal- 



FiG. 1291.— Cerecs. 



65 



