The Florida agriculturist., 1907-07-03
A Collection of Cacti.


lima, gives an interesting account O
her collection of Cacti There is one
thing to recommend them they will
stand very great amount of neglect
DrOuth never hurts them, many more
than is usually supposed are hardy il
this state. The article is as follows
My small but growing collection O.
Cact1 attracts more attention than al
of my other beautiful plants and bios
SONS. Many people who pass by my
gorgeous beds of Dah1ias and Cannas
Geo never notice %r my 9Gts Of beautfu
look at my lovely Lilies or Roses
will stop to look, to question, and to
exclaim over the Cacti. "How odd!
"How queer! "How wonderful! =
care they a1ive?" "Do they grow?'
are some things they say. And of al
the Cacti my "Old Man" (Pilocereu:
senilis), the joy and pride of my hear
calls forth the greatest admiration
Everybody falls in love with his silver
gray locks.
Then they wonder over the Rat
Tail &C. fagelliformis), and admire it:
bloom. They must flip the Living
Rock (Anhalonitm fssuratum) with
finger nails, to hear it's sound-''Why
it's just piece of rock, sure enough!'
hundred have exclaimed I let then
rub their fingers over my Cotton
Cactus (M Lasincantha) to feel how
soft and harmless it is, and then
offer one with long fierce spines, bu
not one in a hundred will touch it
The "Queen Of Night" (Cereus grand
1f1Orus), does not attract SO much at
tentiOn, except when in bloom Their
it captivates everybody 1t is wonder
full! The Phyl1os or Sword Cact
blooms even larger than the Queer
of Night. They are not apt to rot
if grated into Cereus stock. This i!
the best way to manage Epiphyllums
too. This same ''grafting" is a very
fascinating business, and easy to dc
when you know how.
The Rainbow Cactus (Echino-cere
us candicans), has beautiful flowers
as we'll as beautiful spines. So also
has E. viridescens; but of this class
| think Berlanderi and Pectinata have
the prettiest flowers. The Echinopsi!
are all good boomers.
Most of the Mammillarias are small
but there are SO many different color:
of splnes, some brown, some red
some yellow, etc. They are beautiful
for carpet bedding. They do not ge
too large. M senilis is a favorite O.
mine. The spines are so white anC
silky. They are all good bloomers
Some of the Cerei grow very tall
Glganteus attains 90 to 70 feet. Ny
specimen is only one and one-fourt1
inches, and was raised from seeds.
like the blue stemmed ones very
much.
The Opuntias grow faster thar
most others, but they have such wick.
ed spines, though beautiful flowers.
have number Of the hardy ones or
rockery; Lurida, Emory, Missouri
ensis and Microdasys are the bes
bloomers, but if you want something
very unique buy a Grizzly Bear-No
no-only Opuntia Ursina, with its
long, grizzly, white hair. Pereskia is
the only species that has true leaves
1t is called Lemon Cactus, because
they resemble lemon leaves, but are
thicker.
Agaves, A1oes Stape1ias, Euphor
Bias, Gasterias, Echeverias and many
other odd plants are all nice to have
in Cactus collection, because they
require about the same treatment.
care they any trouble?' SO many
ask me. "Of course, some trouble
what can we have without trouble
nettles and ragweeds?' But they re-
quire less care q call it pleasure,