WHY NOT USE SOME OF THE AMERICAN CACTI THAT WILL ADD INTEREST TO PARTS OF YOUR GARDEN 
AND REMAIN GREEN DURING THE HOTTEST DAYS WITHOUT WATER—WHAT VARIETIES ARE VALUABLE 
by Georgia Torrey Drennan 
T HE cacti stand at the head of drought resisting plants. 
They revel in hot sunshine and are independent of ex¬ 
ternal applications of water. They are 
naturally without the evaporating pores of 
the leaves of other forms of vegetation. 
Moisture absorbed by the roots is retained. 
All other plants evaporate as much or more 
moisture than they absorb. One rain in 
early summer, or one drenching with the 
garden hose will as effectually supply cac¬ 
tus plants for the remainder of summer as 
the deep draught of water the camel takes 
when crossing the desert. 
By courtesy, the stem and branch of the 
cactus are referred to as the leaf. Botan¬ 
ists have decided spines to be undeveloped 
leaf buds. They are attached to the cuticle 
of the cacti and in hard-wood plants to the 
bark, unlike true thorns, which project from 
the wood itself. The spines of the cacti 
are striking and beautiful. In several in¬ 
stances the plants are so dazzling in coral, 
jet, copper, gold and silver spines that the 
flowers are but added jewels. The various 
classes differ in spiny coverings. Time was 
when these were considered defensive coats 
of mail, but that theorv has vanished before 
the researches of modern science. The cacti form a large class, 
though most amateurs are restricted to about ten; a dozen or 
two we consider a moderate number, as 
compared to the hundreds that compose the 
class. Even less than one dozen cacti will 
afford striking variety in beautiful con¬ 
trast. For the beauty of the home garden 
a long and enjoyable experience leads us 
to advise amateurs to avail themselves of 
this drought resisting class of plants, if 
they desire a charming and brilliant gar¬ 
den during the heat of summer, particularly 
when there is not an adequate supply of 
water, nor easy facilities for its applica¬ 
tion to plants. 
A sun-baked, brick-paved bit of ground, 
all the front yard a neat cottage far in the 
South possessed, chanced to become the 
home of a flower-wise lady. She took up 
a dozen bricks, planted the ground they 
were taken from with a hardy Opuntia 
Inrida, the candelabrum cactus. Its growth 
is straight, upright and cylindrical. Its 
numerous branches spread out and grace¬ 
fully turn up, each bearing on the terminus 
a creamy-white, cup-shaped flower with 
conspicuous yellow anthers. This was the 
Blossoms of Cereus grandiflora, the true 
night-blooming cactus 
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