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C A C 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



C A C 



tear off the outside skin, and greedily devour all the fleshy 

 moist part. The fruit is frequently eaten by the inhabi- 

 tants of the West Indies. It is about three quarters of an 

 inch in length, of a taper form, drawing to a point at the 

 bottom, but blunt at the top ; the taste is an agreeable 

 acid. This species may be propagated by seeds ; but as the 

 plants which are raised from seeds in England will be some 

 years in arriving to any considerable size, it will be much 

 the best way to procure some plants from the West Indies ; 

 and if the plants arrive here in any of the summer months, 

 so as that there may be time for them to get new roots be- 

 fore the cold comes on in autumn, the plants will more cer- 

 teinly succeed. When the plants come over, it will be pro- 

 per to take them out of the earth as soon as possible, and 

 lay them in the stove upon the shelves to dry, for a fort- 

 night or three weeks ; and when they are planted, they should 

 be plunged into a good warm bed of tanner's bark, to pro- 

 mote their making new roots ; in this bed they may remain 

 till the beginning of October, when they must be removed 

 into the stove, and treated in the manner directed for the 

 first sort. The soil in which they should be planted, must 

 be of a sandy nature, and mixed with some dry lime-rubbish. 

 The plants require a very good stove to preserve them through 

 the winter in England, nor should they be exposed to the open 

 air in summer, for although they may continue fair to out- 

 ward appearance, when they have been some time exposed 

 abroad, yet they will imbibe moisture, which will cause them 

 to rot soon after they are removed into the stove ; and this 

 is frequently the case of those plants which are brought from 

 abroad, which have a fair healthy appearance many times at 

 their first arrival, but soon after suddenly decay. 

 ** Cereuses erect, supporting themselves. 

 3. Cactus Pitajaya. Erect, triangular. This is upright, 

 and eight or ten feet high ; when it grows higher, it wants 

 support, but does not put out any roots from the stem ; the 

 flower is whitish and very handsome, but has hardly any smell ; 

 it is half a foot in diameter, and blows in the night. The 

 fruit is of the form and size of a hen's egg, of a shining 

 scarlet colour on the outside; the pulp is white, fleshy, sweet, 

 eatable, full of small, black, shining seeds. Native of Cartha- 

 gena.and the isle of Mango. The Cereuses, orTorch Thistles, 

 are all propagated by cuttings ; so that if you intend to in- 

 crease the number of them, you must cutofftne stems of the 

 upright sorts at what length you please ; these should be 

 laid in a dry place to heal the part cut, at least a fortnight or 

 three weeks before they are planted ; but if they lie a month 

 it is much the better, and they will be in less danger of rot- 

 ting, especially those sorts which are the most succulent. 

 These cuttings should be planted in pots filled with the mix- 

 ture of earth before directed, laying some stones in the bot- 

 tom of the pots to drain off the moisture ; then place the 

 pots into a gentle hot-bed of tanner's bark, to facilitate their 

 rooting, giving them once a week a gentle watering. The 

 best season for this work is in June, or the beginning of July, 

 that they may have time to root before winter. About the 

 middle of August, give them air by degrees, but they should 

 not be wholly exposed to the open air or sun ; and at the end 

 of September they must be removed into the stove or green- 

 house, where they are to abide the winter, during which sea- 

 son you must be very careful not to let them have much 

 water, and always observe to place the young plants, for the 

 first winter, in a little warmer situation than the old plants, 

 as being somewhat more tender. They should always have 

 a dry situation in winter ; for as they derive the greatest part 

 of their nourishment from the surrounding air, so if this be 

 too moist it will cause them to rot. They should not be 



exposed abroad, not even in the midst of summer, unless 

 they are under shelter, for the great rains which often occur 

 at that season are very injurious to them; the upright sorts 

 should be therefore placed so as to enjoy a free air in the 

 summer, but at the same time screened from rains and great 

 dews ; it will therefore be the best method to set them in 

 an open glass-stove, where the windows may be opened in 

 fair weather, and shut in cold or wet. The creeping sorts 

 must not be much exposed to the open air, even in the hottest 

 season, especially if you design to have them flower, and in 

 winter they should be kept very warm, and have no water 

 given them. These plants being succulent, will bear to be 

 a long time out of the ground, therefore whoever wishes to 

 procure them from the West Indies, need only request their 

 friends there to cut them off, and let them lie two or three 

 days to dry, then put them up in a box with dry hay or 

 straw, to keep them from wounding each other with their 

 spines ; and if they are two or three months on their pas- 

 sage, they will keep very well, provided nu wet get to them. 



4. Cactus Heptagonus ; Seven-angled Upright Torch Thistle. 

 Erect, oblong, seven-angled. Native of the British islands 

 in the West Indies. See the preceding species. 



5. Cactus Tetragonus ; Four-angled Upright Torch Thiftle. 

 Erect, quadrangular, long ; angles compressed. The angles 

 of this species are compressed, and far asunder. It is very 

 subject to put out many shoots from the sides, which stop its 

 upright growth, so that the plants rarely rise more than four 

 or five feet high ; it flowers in July. See the third species. 



6. Cactus Hexagonus ; Six-angled Upright Torch Thistle. 

 Erect, six-angled, long; angles distant. The angles of this 

 species are armed with sharp spines, coming out in clusters 

 at certain distances, and spreading from a centre every way ; 

 the outer substance of the plant is soft, herbaceous, and full 

 of juice, but in the middle there is a strong fibrous circle 

 running the whole length, which secures the stemsfrom being 

 broken by winds. They will rise to the height of thirty or 

 forty feet, if their tops are not injured, and they have room 

 to grow ; but whenever the stems are cut or injured, they 

 put out shoots from the angles, immediately under the 

 wounded part, and frequently one or two lower down ; these,' 

 if they are not cut off, form distinct stems, and grow upright, 

 but they are seldom so large as the principal stem, especially 

 if more than one be left on a plant. The flowers come out 

 from the angles on the sides of the stem ; they have a thick, 

 fleshy, scaly, round, channelled, hairy peduncle, supporting a 

 swelling germen, upon the top of which sits the scaly prickly 

 calix, closely surrounding the corolla, till a little time before 

 it expands ; the flower is then as large as that of a Hollyhock ; 

 the inner petals are white, and crenated at their extremity ; 

 the calix is green, with some purple stripes. It is not suc- 

 ceeded by fruit in this country, nor do the plants often pro- 

 duce flowers, but when they do, there are generally several. 

 Native of Surinam. See the third species. . 



7. Cactus Pentagonus ; Five-angled Upright To.-ch ThMle. 

 Erect, long, jointed, with about five angles. Sometimes, 

 but rarely, the stem has six angles ; it never puts out any 

 roots, and though slender and weak, grows upright. 



8. Cactus Repandus; Slender Upright Torch Thistle. 

 Erect, long, eight-angled ; angles compressed, waved ; spines 

 longer than the wool. The flowers are produced from the 

 angles in the same manner as those of the sixth species, but 

 they are smaller, and the calix is of a light green, without any 

 mixture of colour. The fruit is about the size and shape of 

 a bergamot pear, having many soft spines on the skin ; the 

 outside is a pale yellow, the inside very white, full of pulp, 

 having a number of small black seeds lodged in it. 



This 



