Cacti For Flow^cr Lovers 



HE general idea of a cactus goes 



no farther than the common 



prickly pear, the crab or Christ- 



s cactus, the king cactus, or case- 



ife cactus, or possibly a night bloom- 



g cereus. There is no special beauty 



Cereus Colubrinus 



^the plant itself of any of those men- 

 sned. If it were not for their fine 

 looming qualities they would not long 

 given a place in any conservatory or 

 Sndow garden. Flower growers, who 

 Ive seen only such specimens, will be 

 &rprised to know that there are over 

 looo different varieties, more greatly 

 iried in form than any other class of 

 pants in the world. 

 The genus includes delicate-stemmed 

 fanching tree forms, with stems about 

 be size of a goose quill, and making 

 ensely branched shrubs, as well as the 

 imense giant cactus, which towers in 

 ^e form of a branchless tree to a height 

 forty to sixty feet, with a massive 

 ink two feet in diameter. These are 

 ndmarks in Southern Arizona and Mex- 

 ), where they are not molested, being 

 lany tons in weight, and covered with 

 try long, pearl-covered spines. 

 ' Still other forms are globular, with as 

 reat contrasts as in the tall growing 

 arts. The smallest is the dainty but- 

 cactus, from one-half to an inch in 

 jmeter, covered with spines so fine and 

 ^ky as to appear like lace spun by an 

 ^dustrious spider, while in the same 

 jitegory are found enormous globes 

 Bree feet in diameter, and bearing stout 

 pines, which are really the most attrac- 

 ve part of the i lant ; some, as on the 

 Ishhook cactus, having perfectly formed 

 hooks, three to six inches long, and cap- 



J. H. Callander, Peterboro, Ontario 



able of lifting a great weight. Others 

 wave and twist over the plant, and dis- 

 play brilliant colors of yellow, all shades 

 of red, brown, purple, black and white, 

 some plants having several colors inter- 

 mixed in regular form, making the effect 

 most pleasing. 



Enamored of the grotesque as nature 

 has produced it in this family, the fan- 

 cier has conceived the idea of still fur- 

 ther adding to their odd features by 

 grafting one upon the other, and in this 

 way many highly valued additions to a 

 collection are made. Their fleshy struc- 

 ture makes the cactus the best of sub- 

 jects for experiment in this line, and the 

 operation is very simple. Slender grow- 

 ers are cut to a wedge-shape, and insert- 

 ed in the split top of the stock to be 

 used, held in place by running a couple 

 of spines through, and tied up firmly. 

 In a few days a union is formed and 



Echinocactus Cornigereus 



growth starts at once, and is much more 

 rapid than when the scion is grown on 

 its own roots. Globular sorts are cut 

 off square near the bottom, set on the 

 top of a columnar stem of a cereus, and 

 bound by a string tied over the top. 



By these means, curious and hand- 

 some specimens are made ; drooping 

 sorts are set on tall stems,, and present 

 a graceful appearance, also blooming 

 more freely, while the effect of a round, 

 heavy spined Echinocactus, supported on 

 one or more straight stems of stout cerei 

 is very curious. It is to this process 

 that the success attained in growing 

 fine plants of the crab, or Christmas 

 cactus, is due, the stock used being an 

 exceedingly rapid grower, the Percskia. 



Hybridizing has also been practised 

 to a large extent in some branches, par- 

 ticularly the Phyllocactus, many Euro- 

 pean fanciers possessing several hundred 

 distinct varieties, all tracking back to the 

 two or three original sorts found in their 

 natural state. Their home is in the al- 

 ii? 



most perpetual dampness of the Amazon 

 valley, Brazil, where they grow on 

 trunks and branches of trees, their roots 

 clinging to the moss. Thus, this family 

 of cacti live in entirely different condi- 

 tions from others, and require some- 

 what different treatment. 



While the fancier who makes a collec- 

 tion of cacti, tries to secure the oddest 

 in form, regardless of bloom, yet this 

 is a feature that will well repay the lit- 

 tle care necessary to produce them. The 

 most gorgeous day bloomers are the 

 Epiphyllums or crab cactus, in many 

 shades of crimson and red with white 

 shadings; the Phyllocacti, which bear 

 handsome flowers, from two to ten 

 inches across, ranging in color from 

 pure white, pink, violet, scarlet to pur- 

 ple, a truly grand showing in early 

 spring ; some of the cerei, such as the 

 "Rat-tail," "Rainbow," and others; 

 and the Echinocerie, low growing clus- 

 ters, which are resplendent in spring 

 with exceedingly beautiful flowers of 

 very large size, bright pinks, yellows, 

 reds, purples, and so forth, often six 

 inches across. 



But it is the night bloomers that 

 give us the really notable flowers, not 

 only of immense size, but magnificent 



Opuntia Braziliensis 



in form and texture. The famous night- 

 blooming cereus, itself a slender climber, 

 less than an inch in diameter, first puts 

 out its woolly buds, that gradually in- 

 crease in size, until they reach out six 



