Chapter III. 

 PROPAGATION. 



CACTI are readily multiplied either from seeds, cuttings of the 

 stems, or by grafting. 



SEEDS. The process of germination and the development of 

 the seedling is full of interest, the changes from one form to 

 another being very marked in most of the genera. Good seeds 

 germinate in from two to four weeks after sowing in a temperature 

 of 70 deg. In a lower temperature they take longer, but if 

 properly managed as regards soil and water unless in a very low 

 degree of heat they rarely fail to germinate. Pots or pans containing 

 drainage to within 2 inches of the top, and then filled up with finely 

 sifted loam and sand, three parts of the former to one of the latter, 

 and pressed down moderately firm will be found suitable. The 

 soil should be moist at the time of sowing, and the seeds should 

 be scattered thinly over the surface, covering them with about 

 | inch of soil. Over this a pane of glass may be placed till the 

 seedlings appear above the soil to prevent it from drying and so 

 retarding germination. 



The seeds may be sown at any time, but it is best to sow them 

 in spring, as, after germinating, the young plants have the summer 

 before them, whereas plants raised from autumn-sown seeds have 

 a poorer chance. The seeds of all the genera are small, and the 

 seedlings are at first tiny beadlike masses of watery flesh, very 

 different from the seedlings of ordinary garden plants. This 

 character is shown at Fig. 2. It is interesting to note how the 

 soft, Heshy mass which first grows out of the seed is nothing more 

 than a little bag of food with a tiny growing-point fixed in its top, 

 and that as the growing-point increases the food bag decreases, 

 till finally the whole of the latter is absorbed into the young stem 

 as it becomes capable of obtaining nourishment by means of roots. 

 In Opuntia, the cotyledon stage (see Fig. 3) is different from that 

 of Cereus. Still, though the form is different, the purpose of the 

 two cotyledons and juicy stem is the same ; and as the plant develops 

 the cotyledons shrivel and fall off. As soon as the seedlings are 

 large enough to be handled they may be planted separately in 

 small pots, using a compost slightly coarser than that in which 

 the seeds are sown. They should be kept moist till the summer 



