1 lO 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



ages are in directing the growth of the wood 

 where it will serve the very best purpose 

 for the production of fruit. 



As the vines awaken from their winter 

 sleep in the spring, and the buds begin to 



Fig. 1. 



A Ni])ple Cactus — Mamillaria 

 meiacantha. 



swell, it will be observed that two buds often 

 appear from what seemed but one in dormant 

 state. The first, simplest and most impor- 

 tant operation in summer pruning is to rub 

 off one of these and all superfluous ones 

 wherever and whenever they appear. A sim- 

 lile touch of the finger will do it. The weak- 

 est and generally the lowest one has to go. 



If the buds from any cause start feebly, 

 the sooner this is done the better for those 

 that remain. In cases where they start strong 

 and vigorously, however, it is well to defer 

 their removal until the embryo clusters have 

 appeared. If these shoots have grown a 

 foot or a foot and a half, no matter. The 

 check to the vine willbe the greater and their 

 removal none the less demanded. The re- 

 maining shoots are pinched off at one or two 

 leaves beyond the last cluster of fruit, and 

 the laterals are stopped, in the same waj' as 

 recommended for the .young vine, to one leaf. 



Those bearing canes and laterals, after re- 

 covering from the check thus given, will 

 soon make a fresh start in wood-making, 

 and the pinching process is to be repeated as 



Fig. 4. A Torch Cactus— Eehinocereiis 

 viridifiorus. 



before, leaving an additional leaf each time. 

 The effect of this treatment is to retard the 

 sap and retain it where it is needed for the 

 full development of buds, leaves and fruit. 

 The leaves remaining increase in size much 

 beyond their normal proportions, and a 



strong, vigorous leaf of this kind is most 

 capable of resisting the attack of mildew. 

 The larger the leaf area next to the fruit 

 the larger and finer the fruit will be. 



This pinching process also results in full. 



The Brush Cactiis- 



Mamillaria 



plump and well-developed buds on the canes 

 to be left for the ne.\t year's fruiting. Vines 

 which are allowed to grow at random and 

 take care of themselves seldom fruit, purely 

 from lack of development. The sap, being 

 allowed to pursue its natural course unmo- 

 lested, has no time to stop and pay proper 

 attention to these buds. The short-spur sys- 

 tem depends absolutely for success on this 

 summer pruning. 



I know of a very successful amateur who 

 has vines ten years old treated on this system 

 some of the spurs on which are not over li 

 inches long, so short in some cases that the 

 base bud seems to start almost out of the old 

 wood, and yet this bud will give as good 

 fruit and as large clusters as any, and does 

 so year after year. It is simply due to this 

 full development resulting from summer 

 pruning. — Extract from a paper read before 

 the American Horticultural Society. 



Something about Cactuses. 



The Cactuses at last seem to be in the way 

 of receiving the attention due them from 

 Americans. We say Americans, because it 

 is a fact, and not greatly to our credit, that 

 these plants, which are strictly American as 

 to nativity, have all along been more prized 

 by Europeans than by ourselves. The pres- 

 ent growing interest in them here at home 

 is therefore altogether timely. It must be 

 added that to Mr. A. Blanc, of Philadeliihia, 

 largely belongs the credit for the recent im- 

 petus given to Cactus culture in this country. 



One of the chief reasons why the culture 

 of Cactuses should be much made of is be- 

 cause of their intrinsic merits. Thej' are the 

 ideal plant for that large class of amateurs 

 who desire some attractive house plants, 

 but who do not feel well versed in plant 

 culture. A person decidedly ignorant as to 

 the care of plants might start in with fifty 

 different sorts, including a Cactus, and the 

 chances would be that if, after one or two 

 years of poor treatment, three plants of the 

 collection remained, one of these, and that 

 the thriftiest, would be the Cactus. 



But while it is certainly a good point 

 in favor of any plant, that it can stand 

 much ill-usage, the Cacti can lay claim 

 to a number of other excellent qualities 

 besides. They respond quickly to good 

 culture, — and good culture in their case is 

 of a very simple kind. For grotesque beauty 



and charming flowers the famil}' is a nota- 

 ble one, and the best types among them may 

 be easily grown under the most ordinary cir- 

 cumstances of window gardening. No plants 

 are more free from insects of all kinds than 



Fig. 3. 



The Whip-cord Cactus — Cereus 

 Jiayellifonnis. 



the members of this family, a point that can- 

 not fail of being well appreciated. 



In the limits of a single article it would 

 be impossible to go deeply into the matter of 

 kinds and varieties of these plants. As to 

 their extent, it is only necessary to state that 

 in a catalogue of Cacti recently published 

 by Mr. Blanc, of Philadelphia, 400 distinct 

 sorts are offered for sale. We do not know 

 of a more extensive catalogue of the.se plants 

 issued by any grower in the world than this 

 one. To this same gentleman we are in- 

 debted for the use of the handsome cuts of 

 different Cactuses given herewith. 



Of the near upon a dozen genera of 

 Cacti in cultivation, those of the Mamillarias 

 (see fig. 1 and 2) are among the most desira- 

 ble. Search the vegetable kingdom through 

 and it would be hard to find more beautiful 

 examples of symmetry than is shown in the 

 arrangements of the protuberances or " nip- 

 ples," as well as spines of many of these. But 

 aside from this the flowers, produced in neat 

 rosettes, are very handsome, and being freely 

 brought forth add another marked charm. 



The Cereus, represented in the engravings 

 by figures 3 and 5, and a sub-genus called 

 Echino-cereus, by figure 4, is perhaps the 

 most important of all the genera, to cultiva- 

 tors. Certain it is that its pleasing generic 

 name, Cereus, is more widely familiar to the 

 ears of people than that of any other botani- 

 cal name among Cactuses, owing to the 

 fame of that noble representative, the Grand 

 Flowered Night-blooming Cereus. 



This remarkable plant, it is a pleasure to 

 say, is now getting comparatively common, 

 but not yet as much so as it should be. It is 

 one of the easiest of ('actuses to grow. We 

 have known them to produce from three to 

 forty of their magnificent flowers per plant, 

 one year after the other in succession, for 

 many years. The appearance of the flower 

 could not be better shown in the black and 

 white of an engraving than has been done 

 in the figure on next page. As to color 

 the interior is of the most delicate creamy 

 white, and this is beautifully offset bj' a red- 

 dish brown on the outside. Flowers from 

 nine to twelve inches across are not rare. 

 They emit a sweet delicate odor when open. 



If there is one objection to be found to 

 this plant for window culture it is its free 

 growth, although large size can be prevented 

 by making new propagations every few years. 

 The same objection could not be raised to 



