


THE STORY OF CACTUS i 

an official of the Indian Service, who said one of the Arizona Dept. of Agri- 
culture men told him that the seed of the Giant Cactus of Arizona had to 
pass through the digestive tract of a bird before it would grow. This is nonsense, 
seeds will grow and we believe more quickly after passing thru an animal or 
bird but only because the droppings fertilize it"and soften the hard outer shell. 
We have a flat seedings that grew from seeds collected by Papago Indians this 
summer. 
CARE OF CACTI IN COLD WEATHER 
How to treat cacti in a cold weather has been a problem but is no more, 
as all one has to do is place the cacti in a cold-cellar during freezing months. 
“We have seen two cacti collections in cellars, one in Sandusky, Ohio, and the 
other in Cleveland, Ohio. The collection in Sandusky is comprised of 285 
species, and they were on benches, tubs, boxes and a wall that ran around the 
entire cellar. The lady who owned them said she lighted a lantern only when 
the temperature got below 35 degrees and that only happened a couple times 
last winter. The one in Cleveland owned by Mrs. Mach of Shaker Heights was 
in the cellar where she stored her vegetables. This cellar had a small window 
which was always kept open and she told me it never got colder than 40 
degrees down there. We know of one cactus, an Arizona Giant, which has a 
wooden and glass house built over it each winter and an electric heating device 
installed, thermostat and all. 
During December, 1936, in Kansas City, Mo. the thermometer dropped to 
ten degrees below zero for fifteen ‘straight days and one cactus garden survived 
outside with the loss of only four small cacti where the snow blew in under 
the covering. First, a tarpaulin was stretched over the bed on stakes, one 
corner was left up a little to allow air to circulate so they would not mold. 
Then a foot of straw was placed over this and on top of all a large piece of 
oilcloth stretched over the straw and tied down all around but the vent. This 
collection had a four foot giant and a three foot candy barrel in it and we 
believe if the oilcloth had been larger, the four small cacti which died would 
have survived. 
Some build greenhouses (32) and other just build an addition outside a 
window. and allow the heat of the house to go out thru the open window; 
the neatest of these was in Pennsylvania where the house had an uncovered 
porch with french doors leading out. It was a simple matter to build a small 
greenhouse there which held over two hundred species. Now if building this 
kind of a window or balcony greenhouse, don’t let gas fumes (Ethylene Gas 
CeH4) get into it as gas kills the plants and if heating with gas, be sure the 
stove is inside an airtight box with an air vent from the outside to below the 
flame and a chimney to carry off the fumes. The air vent is necessary as the gas 
will not burn without air. Always have a pan of water on the stove for 
humidity. 
THE CACTUS GARDEN 
In considering a cactus garden, (62) first pick out the sunniest place you 
have and then think about the drainage which is very important. It should 
be built about a foot above the surrounding grounds (51) and have at least 
a foot of drainage of broken rocks or cinders (51) below that. The soil should 
be half sand and half heavy soil with a liberal amount of lime mixed in. A 
bushel of charcoal will help keep it sweet and also tend to keep some diseases 
away. Always mound the soil having the center highest. (52) If making a 
bed eight feet in diameter, have the center two feet.higher than the edge which 
is a foot higher than the surrounding ground. As to the wall, (63) this can 
be made from most anything. *We use rocks which we get from the mines. 
These come in all colors and can be tied together with dabs of cement which 
in turn can be sprinkled with powdered stone to hide the cement. 
In planting the cacti, always plant the largest specimen in the center (112) 
and so on down to the edge where the small ones can be placed between rocks 
to show them off. We also place rocks all among the cacti to keep the cacti 
upright. (62) In a cold climate, one can plant the cacti in pots and then 
plant the pots in the soil and place rocks around each pot to hide them. We 

43 Peniocereus greggii in bloom. 46 Echinocereus dasyacanthus. 
44 Cactus garden and Agaves. 47 Seedlings. 
45 Bloom of a Harrisia bonplandii. 
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