BEDDED OUT. 
Half=an=Hour with Cactaceous Plants. 
PRACTICAL HINTS ON THEIR CULTURE, &c. 
iHF, members of the Cactus family in general possess a peculiar attraction which no other 
of the vegetable kingdom can boast, Their point of attraction does not lie alone in beauty 
of Hower, but in their queerly shaped, oft-times grotesquely distorted stems, which m 
some instances are closely covered with a net-work of fine hair-like spines; in others the spines 
are formidable, either erect or depressed, and are often found to attain the length of four inches. 
The variation of colour in the blooms of Cacti is rivalled by that, of their spines, the stems of 
some varieties are blue, others range through different shades of green, and some are even black. 
Then still again, many species after flowering present us with a lavish display of brightly- 
coloured berries through various shades of colour ranging from white to crimson Some of the 
magnificent blooms are delightfully scented, and many remain open for a considerable period, 
while others again only expand for a few hours and then droop and wither. Ihe flowers oi 
some varieties of this peculiar family of plant life expand only at night time, when their appear- 
ance is always hailed with delight by every true lover of flowers. 1 hus it may be seen at a 
glance that this unique family, by presenting so many striking attractions, responds in a most 
worthy manner to a comparatively small amount of careful attention, and is undoubtedly an 
unlimited source of interest from year’s end to year’s end. The popular taste in this^ direction 
of floriculture, after lying dormant for something like half a century, is gradually but surely 
awakening to the varied beauties of succulent plant life, and, to our mind, the interest once 
aroused will not easily flag. Gardeners of the present day, amateur or otherwise (with but few 
excentionsl, are not fully awake, unfortunately, to the amount of pleasure and interest ivhich 
this class of plants can command if properly treated. It seems to be a common idea that Cacti 
