CACTUSES AND OTHER SUCCULENTS I7I 



in the window garden, so long as they never 

 get frozen. Try to keep the night tempera- 

 ture about 50 degrees. The drying of the 

 soils under ordinary house conditions makes 

 watering in winter a necessity. Planted 

 out in a greenhouse, their requirements 

 are very much less. The window gardener 

 must remember that although they are desert 

 plants, they do not naturally grow in small 

 pots, exposed to drying draughts of desic- 

 cated hot air. 



The growth of the plants will be improved if 

 they are put outdoors when all danger of frost 

 is past in early spring. Some people knock 

 them from the pots and set them in the ground, 

 but it is better to plunge them — plant, pot 

 and all — because they are more easily lifted 

 and no damage is done to the roots. Place 

 them in a well-drained border, fully exposed 

 to the sun, and with a free circulation of air. 



The opuntia is the most disagreeable of 

 all the cactuses to handle because of the 

 very small brown spines which grow in 

 bunches all over the stem and fruits. These 

 spines are barbed, something like a fish 

 hook, so that when once they are in the flesh 

 it is exceedingly difficult to remove them. 



