The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-09
CACTI THRIVE ON NEGLECT
Plants That Open a New Field for
the Amateur Gardener.
Interesting Varieties to he secured
at Moderate PriccS-W onderfuI Re
suits Obtained by Grating and
Hybridizing Utilizing Cuttings.

] NJ hablFrHNe BrtCeN-N OnOeFhuA He
suits Obtained By Grating and
HybridizinE - Utilizing Cuttings.
through the experience Of sowing seeds
which don't come up, of nursing with in
finite pains plants whose blooms fall
woefdly short of the glories OF the seeds
mans catalogue. Of dabbling in eaTths
and fertilizers only 20 have them prove
too Hch or ton Door. too porous or too
heavy. with the same result Of failure
in the end. of trying TO protect his treas
ures from drought or flood, with the Ger
taInty Of going 20 the other extreme; Of
fighting pests from twO-inch caterpiliars
TO microscopic insects. Of enduring disap-
pointment in manifold forms in a word.
ne sometimes meets a true friend who
says to him, why not Try cacti2" and
straightway 4 new world Of wonders and
joys is opened TO him.
The cactus is the refuge Of the amateur
gardener in distress. Il thEives on neglect
II battered and misused il viii even take
on new and wonderful forms. II you show
II Il little kindness IL is woudrousIy CRATE
fuL 1t is patient. faithful. and uuObtTU-
siye. The only thing you have to avoid
is giving 1t too much care. being too kind
to It. 1t is the mule Of the flower world.
maligned. feared dcSpiSed but fun or
good qualities. II is Ike the street waif
in the story book who is taken into the
farmers household and in time saves his
btnefactors family from bankruptcy.
Ii is only within comparatively recent
time that the wonders Of the cactus have
been generally understood. 1t is only
within the last few years that its culture
has spread in the marked fashion that
Distinguishes rlgur4T4y-5 A FF-s,-.+
genus has now arisen, being the people
who are proud 70 describe themselves
as cactus cranks How many thousands
there are, only the dealers in cacti can
estimate; but there are enough OF them
10 support some mighty big business es-
adjustments They include the extremes
Of little children, women. and old men.
besides people between these limits That
viii indicate the varied fascination and
wide possibilities Of cactus culture.
Formerly collecting cact was akin 10
growing cOnifers. which had been de
scribed as being the one pleasure posi-
bic only 70 en- ancient and wealthy fam
lily Then a few rich amateurs paid large
sums for strange forms which were often
brought from remote and inaccessible
parts Of the earth, at a cost that made
their possession impossible for any but
persons Of wealth Rarity was then a
more important element than il is now
in the pleasure Of owning a cactus, curl
Gus on account Of its shape. its size or its
flowers. Nowadays commercial enter
prise has reduced the element Of rarity
70 the same standard that obtains wiki
other flowers and cact are studied and
priced, In some cases II would be proper
10 say loved, for their own qualities.
II should not be understood, however,
that all kinds al r.4rrf nav be r.r1r-Ef.-aT
nowadays by everybody at moderate
prices. This is far from being the case.
While in general the cost Of a cactus is
regulated by its individual merits. such
as its beauty and perfection of develop
ment, various species continue TO be
scarce and CHI be procured only by the
expenditure u much money and labor.
Some Of the difficulties Of collecting cacti
are thus described by a firm dealing
largely in these plants:
The largest number Of varieties are
obtained from Mexico and South America.
and while no doubt in many places they
occur by the thousands. these spots are /
sometimes almost inacccss. BILE and often
so far remote from railways and roads 1
that special expeditions have to be sent /
out to travel hundreds Of miles. This and |
the enormous incidental charges account Z
for the high price OF many of the rarer /
Mexican sorts. We once sent a collector. /
who drove his team and wagon for more +
than 200 miles 20 get certain rare PHO
cereus, OF which however, only head cut /
tings were saleablei he laid in a wagon I
load in layers, placing stout canvas bags !
between the layers. but 10y the time he /
reached his destination the constant jar /
ring and jolting of his cart had complete I
y disintegrated the tissues of this pecu- 1
liar plant. and every one had decayed.
AT one time We sent a collector 10 pro- |
cure for us lot of AuhaIonium fssUra- /
tum which We knew could be procured in ]
large quantity; but after four days Of /
travel when he came upon the spot he 1
ascertainsd that no rain had fallen in 1
this locality for over two years and that /
even the common prickIy pear as well as /
the Living Rock had succumhed TO such /
an 0-deal-siX plants were the result Of 1
the trip
"One OF our Utah collectors had to /
travel COO miles by wagon TO obtain three
Of the nine varieties Indigenous 10 that /
State"
In a general way il Will be seen that
the calling Of a cactus hunter may De as
fun Of interest, adventure and romance
as that OF an orchid hunter Another ex-
ample of this is the story CT an attempt
to get specimen of Cereus giganteus /
cristata told 10y well-kaowu botauist:
We had a curious experience trying to !
secure one Of these Fascinated giants |
which our collector discovered in the I
Southwest IL was Impossible TO trans
port the whole plant owing TO its bulk
and enormous root lthiS cereus grows To
a height OF thirty feet and more. SO we
organized force Of hands, with teams
derrick. and paraphernaIia to secure the
top. After many mills Of travelling AMI
tiresome climbing our collectors arrived
on the spot. when. 10, they were too late,
Some one else had taken possession OF
the plant and left them in the Iurch- A
w0odpeCkcr had actually followed out
the head and built himself a home in H.
not knowing what a valuable prize he |
had utterly ruined. Tor the head had de-
cayed until nothing but a mere shell re-
manned Of IL. We were fortunate, how |
ever, to secure the lattened head Of an
other giant, who probably was monarch
Of al he surveyed. for he carried his head
forty feet high.
one fascination of the cactus for the
lazy is that IL requires little care Give it
sand. plenty of sunshine. very little Wa
ter. and let il alone. and it viii cause no
Worry TO its owner. I'm winter il can be
Fr