10 CACTUS CULTURE FOR AMATJBURS. 



The plants should be laid on their sides to be syringed, and 

 after they have been thoroughly wetted, they may be allowed 

 to stand for a few minutes before being well syringed with pure 

 water. Plants that are badly infested with mealy bug should be 

 syringed with the paraffin mixture once a day for about a week. 

 It is easy to do serious harm to these plants by using a stronger 

 solution than is here recommended, and also by not properly mixing 

 the oil with the soap and water. 



When thrips attack Phyllocactus, Rhipsalis, and Epiphyllum 

 fumigation with tobacco, dipping in a strong solution of tobacco, 

 or sponging with soapy water are effectual remedies. 



A blight, similar to mealy bug, sometimes appears on the roots 

 of Echinocactus and Cereus. It may be destroyed by dipping 

 the whole of the roots in the mixture recommended for the stems 

 when infested by mealy bug, and after allowing them to stand 

 for a few minutes, immersing them in pure water. In a day or 

 two they should be repotted into new compost. 



Diseases. 



The larger kinds of Cactus are said to live to a great age, 

 some of the tree kinds, according to Humboldt, bearing evidences 

 of having existed several hundred years. The same longevity, 

 most likely, is found in the .smaller kinds when wild. Undei 

 cultivation, however, the health of these plants is less certain. 

 Large specimens neivly imported have never lived longer than & 

 few years. When decay sets in it should be cut out with a sharp 

 knife, and the wound exposed in a dry atmosphere for a few days 

 till it has dried, when it may be replanted. The cause of decay 

 at the base or in the side of the stem of these plants is no doubt 

 due to the absence of some necessary condition when the plants 

 are cultivated. 



Grafted plants, especially Epiphyllums, when worked on to 

 Pereskia stocks, are apt to grow weak and flabby through the stem 

 wearing out, or through the presence of mealy bug or other insects, 

 in which case it is best to prepare fresh stocks and graft on to them 

 th healthiest pieces of the old plant. 



