Fig. 1S31. Queen Cactus, in Yard of Philip Morse, San Diago. California. 

 (Nearly 15 feet high and 18 feet broad. The largest cnltiTated specimen in the world.) 



THE CACTUS FAMILY. 



.NLY those who have engaged in the 

 cultivation of Cacti understand the 

 lascination these curious spring 

 plants have for the collector. There 

 are the same conditions which make the 

 pleasure in gathering together large collec- 

 tions of rare coins, stamps, shells and curios 

 of all kinds — namely, difficult}- of procuring 

 the best and rarest of the particular class you 

 are in search of. The "Cacti Crank," as 

 he is called, has a large advantage over col- 

 lectors of most of the classes mentioned, 

 in that his plants are constantly changing, 

 growing larger and more valuable ; reward- 

 ing patience with their beautiful bloom, and 

 constituting a continual source of pleasure 

 in their care and their capabilities of creating 

 wonderful combinations by grafting, etc. 



A great many people discard the Cacti on 

 account of their slow growth and their in- 

 ability to get them to bloom readily, but if 

 the growth of a cactus is not so fast as that 

 of a geranium it is sure, and what it makes 

 one year it keeps and adds to the next, while 

 the fast-growing plants are thrown out ever}- 



year and new ones purchased. The few 

 plants of Cacti which are kept year after 

 year thrive on their neglectful treatment and 

 soon become an ornament, even when not in 

 bloom. Everj-one acknowledges that the 

 flowers of the Cacti are among the finest in 

 nature, and they richly reward the fortunate 

 possessor of the plant, even if one has to 

 wait an entire year for it. 



But it is not the grand flowers they pro- 

 duce that is the incentive to the collector, 

 but the multitudinous variety of forms and 

 spines that are contained in the various 

 headings under the name of Cacti. It could 

 not be the bloom that creates the desire in a 

 beginner's mind for more of the odd plants, 

 because few of them have seen the lovely 

 flowers, and the few small plants first ob- 

 tained have not yet reached that period, but 

 the fact remains that the "cactus fever" 

 is contracted by making a small beginning, 

 and then only the possession of more new 

 varieties will satisfy the craving. 



As each addition is made to the collection, 

 it is carefully potted and watched till growth 



