358 MANUAL OF GARDENING 



same mixture of soil, setting each plant down to the seed-leaf. They 

 will need three or four transplantings before they reach the blooming 

 stage, and at each one after the first, the proportion of fibrous loam 

 may be increased until the soil is composed of one-third each of loam, 

 sand, and leafmold. The addition of a little well-rotted manure may 

 be made at the last transplanting. 



Cactus. — Various kinds of cactus are often seen in small collections 

 of house plants, to which they add interest and oddity, being different 

 from other plants. 



Most cacti are easy to grow, requiring little care and enduring the 

 heat and dryness of a living room much better than most other plants. 

 Their requirements are ample drainage and open soil. Cactus growers 

 usually make a soil by mixing pulverized plaster or lime refuse with 

 garden loam, using about two-thirds of the loam. The very fine parts, 

 or dust, of the plaster, are blown out, else the soil is likely to cement. 

 They may be rested at any season by simply setting them away in a dry 

 place for two or three months, and bringing them into heat and light 

 when they are wanted. As new growth advances they should have 

 water occasionally, and when in bloom, they should be watered freely. 

 Withhold water gradually after blooming until they are to be rested. 



Some of the most common species in cultivation are the phyllo- 

 cactus species, often called the night-blooming cereus. These are not 

 the true night-blooming cereuses, which have angular or cylindrical 

 stems, covered with bristles, while these have flat, leaf-like branches; 

 the flowers of these, however, are very much like the cereus, opening 

 at evening and closing before morning, and as the phyllocacti may be 

 grown with greater ease, blooming on smaller and younger plants, they 

 are to be recommended. 



The true night-blooming cereuses are species of the genus Cereus. 

 The commonest one is C. nycticalus, but C. grandiflorus, C. triangu- 

 laris and others are occasionally seen. These plants all have long 

 rod-hke stems which are cylindrical or angular. These stems often 

 reach a height of 10 to 30 ft., and they need support. They 

 should be trained along a pillar or tied to a stake. They are unin- 

 teresting leafless things during a large part of the year; but in mid- 

 summer, after they are three or more years old, they throw out their 



