CULTURE OF THE CACTUS. 177 



(bearing the personal names of the lovers of the tribe) have 

 been produced. The general mode of propagation adopted 

 is, by cuttings of the leaf or stem of the plant, which in the 

 spedosa, Jenkinsonii, and those kinds having joints, are cut 

 at the joint; but those kinds which have long spaces between 

 the joints, as the speciosissima, cylindricus, and the like tall 

 growing kinds, may be cut into short pieces at the eye or 

 bud. The preparing the cuttings of the Cactus is something 

 different from almost any other kinds of plants. 



The cuttings of the Cactus require to be laid on a dry 

 shelf, previous to being inserted, so that the wound may be 

 contracted and dried up. This treatment is necessary to all 

 kinds of succulent plants, to avoid their rotting off at the 

 wound. The cuttings being thus prepared, and the wound 

 thoroughly dried up, (which will be in a week or ten days 

 after their preparation,) they may be put into pots or pans 

 of sand, in the usual manner of putting in cuttings. 



The cuttings being potted, they may be placed over the 

 flue, or in any dry, warm part of the house, and slightly 

 syringed of a fine sunny morning, or of an evening when the 

 fire-heat is sufficient to dry the leaf in a short time ; water 

 lying long on the leaves in this process, in many cases rots 

 the entire cutting ; and most generally, at all events, it decays 

 close to the surface of the soil in the pot. When the cut- 

 tings begin to root they may be moderately watered, and 

 when sufficiently rooted, potted off in the following manner, 

 for flowering plants. 



The best compost for potting the cuttings or young plants 

 of Cactus that I am acquainted wilh, is about two parts of 

 decomposed leaf mould, three or four years old, with the 

 remainder mellow loam and a good portion of sand and some 

 fine bone dust and charcoal beaten fine. The method of 

 potting is to prepare a quantity of well-broken potsherd?, 

 beaten very fine, which are to be put at the bottom of the 

 pot, about an inch thick ; the soil is then to be used by pla- 

 cing it lightly in the pots until they are about three-fourths 



