CACTI AND SUCCULENTS— PROPAGATION. 



187 



amateurs who cherish their curios. The number of fanciers has for some time been 

 increasing, and they support a special monthly organ, the "Cactus Journal."* As 

 affording evidence of the zeal of its Editor, Mr. F. A. Walton, he writes under date 

 May 19th, 1899 : " I have lately returned from a journey of 20,000 miles, especially to 

 see and collect cacti." They are most numerous in Mexico, which is the congenial home 

 of many other succulent plants, but several species are found in the various arid 

 regions of the earth. The tall-growing kinds need lofty structures for their cultivation 

 in this country, and all types may bo seen in the famous Cacti and succulent house at 

 Kew. (Fig. 117.) 



The establishment of collections of the plants under notice is not an expensive luxury, 

 as only the rarest species are highly priced, the majority being within the means of all 

 who can afford to erect a small, unpretentious structure. Although cactaceous plants 

 may be grown with a variety of other plants under glass, they succeed best when kept 

 by themselves in lighter houses and a drier atmosphere than suits most of the other 

 occupants, especially during the summer. A strong sun and dry atmosphere are most 

 conducive to a sturdy florifcrous habit of growth. What adds to the popularity of Cacti 

 is the fact that comparatively small plants, if in good health, are nearly or quite as 

 attractive as those much larger and of greater age. The plants are best arranged 

 on light, dry, spar-covered staging, but they arc nearly as happy on the wood shelves 

 or stepped stands to bo found in the smaller greenhouses, such positions answering 

 better than a low, damp, or shaded position. Those genera or species from tropical 

 countries should have the warmer end of a house, so that all may be kept together in 

 a winter temperature of 45° to 55° — a few degrees lower, if the house is quite dry, not 

 injuring the plants — increasing to 70° to 85° when the sun gains its greatest power 

 during the summer. 



Pkopagation. 



Cacti are variously propagated by cuttings or offsets, grafting, and seeds. The 

 first-named method is the most common. Small offsets, from 1 inch to 2 inches 

 in length, may be carefully detached from Mammillaria, Echinopsis, Pilocereus, and 

 others of a globular habit of growth ; and cuttings of Cereus, Opuntia, Phyllocactus, 

 Ehipsalis, and any other kinds that form slender, angular stems. It is of vital importance 

 that offsets without roots, and especially cuttings, be laid on a sunny shelf for the wounds 



* E. W. Allen, 4, Ave Maria Lano, Paternoster Eow, London. 

 B B 2 



