528 



A WONDERLAND OF CACTUSES 



cactus spine through it to keep the graft from slipping, 

 and tying it on tightly with string or twine. The union 

 is effected in two or three days. Care must be taken 

 that the plant is well watered after grafting, so that 

 growth is not checked. Do not let the graft get wet un- 

 til after it commences to grow. Our greatest amusement 

 has been to graft Cereus Jiagellifo7-iiiis, var. cristatiis. 

 This is a malformation — a freak of nature — and is still 

 exceedingly rare in collections. We have perhaps a hun- 

 dred grafts of it, and the curious part is that no two 

 plants are alike. They all assume distinct forms and 

 change their shape continually, so that after one month's 

 growth a plant would not be recognized. Fig. i was 

 made from grafts one and two years old in our posses- 

 sion, and gives an idea of some of the forms. With 

 careful selection many oddities can be produced. The 

 plant has a tendency to send out one or more long rat- 

 tail-like shoots ; these, if taken off and grafted will con- 

 tinue to grow sometimes to a length of one or two feet, 

 and then all at once they will begin to spread out in fan- 

 shaped forms. This monstrous form is not commonly 

 floriferous, but when it does bloom the flowers are usu- 

 ally of cockscomb shape. 



In grafting this or the regular Cereus Jlagelliforiins, it 

 is not necessary to take a large scion ; a piece one or two 

 inches in length will be enough, but the stronger the 

 stock on which it is grafted, the stronger the graft will 

 grow. A very small piece grafted on a large plant of 

 Cereus nyctiealus on January i now measures nearly three 

 feet in circumference. On this same plant we have 

 grafted various other sorts, such as Cereus coccineus, C 

 speciosissimus and epiphyllum, which are all making 

 growth and will no doubt bloom in due season. One 

 of our main reasons for grafting on the various night- 

 blooming cereuses is that it does not prevent the stock 

 from blooming. The stock of which we have been speak- 

 ing bears now over 25 buds. 



The cereus tribe is perhaps more diverse in form than 

 any other. From the creeping rat-tail cactus to the 

 giant cactus of Arizona (Cereus giganteusj , measurmg 

 50 to 60 feet in height, is certainly a great step. 

 What a pity that the flowers are not in proportion to the 

 size of the plants ! The accompanying engraving, Fig. 2, 

 represents a plant of Cereus giganteus, of which the 

 main stem has assumed a cristate or fasciated form. 

 The normal condition of the plant is shown by the side 

 branches. We had a curious experience trying to secure 

 one of these fasciated giants which our collector discov- 

 ered in the southwest. It was impossible to transport the 

 whole plant, owing to its bulk and enormous root ; so we 

 organized a force of hands, with teams, derrick and para- 

 phernalia, to secure the top. After many miles of travel- 

 ing and tiresome climbing, our collectors arrived on the 

 spot, when lo ! they were too late ! Someone else had 

 taken possession of the plant, and left them in the lurch. 

 A woodpecker had actually hollowed out the head and 

 built himself a home in it, not knowing what a valuable 

 prize he had utterly ruined ; for the head had decayed, 

 until nothing but a mere shell remained of it. We were 



fortunate, however, to secure the flattened head of 

 another giant, who probably was "monarch of all he 

 surveyed," for he carried his head forty feet high. It is 

 now in the company of our "old man" cactus, where 

 it attracts much attention. This is undoubtedly the 

 only living severed head of a giant in the world, and 

 already many foreign cactus collectors are clamoring for 

 a slice of it. 



These giants, by the way, are wonderfully tenacious to 

 of life. We have some plants six, seven and eight feet 

 high, three feet or more in circumference, which were 

 lost on their way from our ranch in New Mexico for a 

 period of nearly nine months. When at last they were 



Fig. 2' Fasciated Central Stem of Cereus 

 giganteus. 



found and sent home, they presented a skeleton-like ap- 

 pearance. We cut the dry roots off, planted in tubs, and 

 in less than three months they were growing and bloom- 

 ing. The giants are beautiful specimens for the lawn, 

 but their weight make them difficult to handle. Many 

 plants shipped by us to Florida have proved perfectly 

 hardy ; indeed, we are informed that in their native 

 home they grow at an elevation where the thermometer 

 reaches ten degrees above zero. 



The finest flowers that we have ever seen opened with 

 us last week on a cereus recently received from South 

 America. The plant is new to us, is of very stout, up- 



