Cereus grandiflorus, the night-blooming cereus, is perhaps the best known of all the cactuses. Its rapid growth, ease of management and the enormous night opening flowers have made it popular. It is not generally known, however, that under the name of Cereus grandiflorus many sorts have been put in commerce.

They all bear large flowers which open at night, and which, to most people, appear to be alike. The true Cereus grandiflorus is the only one that has decidedly fragrant flowers. Its stem is fully set with spines, and its growth is not rapid. Cereus Mai-Donaldia bears flowers nearly as large, but they are not fragrant. It is a very quick grower and a much freer bloomer than the other. The stems are slender, cylindrical, and at regular intervals are set with fleshy tubercles instead of spines. Cereus nyclacalus we consider the most desirable of the night blooming-cereuses on account of its very rapid, strong growth, which often enables an amateur to have a blooming plant the second year from a cutting It is also a very profuse bloomer if fully exposed to the sun in winter. The stems, which are four to five-angled, become much stouter than in C. grandiflorus or C. Mac-Donaldia. We use this extensively for grafting other varieties on, especially for Cereus flagelliformis, or rat-tail cactus, which is wonderfully improved by grafting.

It then grows stronger, quicker, blooms more profusely, and never rots off, which it does so often when grown on its own roots.

We now graft it in a different way than formerly, viz : split the graft and cut the scion to a wedge, sticking a cactus spine through it to keep the graft from slipping, and tying it on tightly with string or twine. The union is effected in two or three days. Care must be taken that the plant is well watered after grafting, so that growth is not checked. Do not let the graft get wet until after it commences to grow. Our greatest amusement has been to graft Cereus flagelliformis, var. cristatus. This is a malformation - a freak of nature - and is still exceedingly rare in collections. We have perhaps a hundred grafts of it, and the curious part is that no two plants are alike. They all assume distinct forms and change their shape continually, so that after one month's growth a plant would not be recognized. Fig. 1 was made from grafts one and two years old in our possession, and gives an idea of some of the forms. With careful selection many oddities can be produced. The plant has a tendency to send out one or more long rat-tail-like shoots; these, if taken off and grafted will continue to grow sometimes to a length of one or two feet, and then all at once they will begin to spread out in fan-shaped forms.

This monstrous form is not commonly floriferous, but when it does bloom the flowers are usually of cockscomb shape.

In grafting this or the regular Cereus flagelliformis, it is not necessary to take a large scion ; a piece one or two inches in length will be enough, but the stronger the stock on which it is grafted, the stronger the graft will grow. A very small piece grafted on a large plant of Cereus nycticalus on January 1 now measures nearly three feet in circumference. On this same plant we have grafted various other sorts, such as Cereus coccineus, C. speciosissimus and epiphyllum, which are all making growth and will no doubt bloom in due season. One of our main reasons for grafting on the various night-blooming cereuses is that it does not prevent the stock from blooming. The stock of which we have been speaking bears now over 25 buds.

The cereus tribe is perhaps more diverse in form than any other. From the creeping rat-tail cactus to the giant cactus of Arizona (Cereus giganteus), measuring 50 to 60 feet in height, is certainly a great step. What a pity that the flowers are not in proportion to the size of the plants! The accompanying engraving, Fig. 2, represents a plant of Cereus giganteus, of which the main stem has assumed a cristate or fasciated form. The normal condition of the plant is shown by the side branches. We had a curious experience trying to secure one of these fasciated giants which our collector discovered in the southwest. It was impossible to transport the whole plant, owing to its bulk and enormous root; so we organized a force of bands, with teams, derrick and paraphernalia, to secure the top. After many miles of traveling and tiresome climbing, our collectors arrived on the spot, when do they were too late! Someone else had taken possession of the plant, and left them in the lurch. A woodpecker had actually hollowed out the head and built himself a home in it, not knowing what a valuable prize he had utterly ruined ; for the head had decayed, until nothing but a mere shell remained of it.

We were fortunate, however, to secure the flattened head of another giant, who probably was "monarch of all be surveyed," for he carried his head forty feet high. It is now in the company of our "old man" cactus, where it attracts much attention. This is undoubtedly the only living severed head of a giant in the world, and already many foreign cactus collectors are clamoring for a slice of it.

These giants, by the way, are wonderfully tenacious to of life. We have some plants six, seven and eight feet high, three feet or more in circumference, which were lost on their way from our ranch in New Mexico for a period of nearly nine months. When at last they were found and sent home, they presented a skeleton-like appearance. We cut the dry roots off, planted in tubs, and in less than three months they were growing and blooming. The giants are beautiful specimens for the lawn, but their weight make them difficult to handle. Many plants shipped by us to Florida have proved perfectly hardy; indeed, we are informed that in their native home they grow at an elevation where the thermometer reaches ten degrees above zero.

The finest flowers that we have ever seen opened with us last week on a cereus recently received from South America. The plant is new to us, is of very stout, upright growth, with four much compressed angles. It is a night-bloomer, and the flowers, which are entirely distinct from any cereus that we have ever seen, are composed of six rows of petals, numbering in all nearly 140. These are beautifully recurved, the innumerable stamens projecting well above them. The entire flower measured 30 inches in circumference, and, most interesting of all, they were of a deep satiny pink, a color heretofore unknown among cereuses. The fragrance equals that of the night-blooming cereus in strength and sweetness.

A cereus that always attracts attention is C. famacaru, var. glaucus, of which the young growth is of a delicate pate blue. This color is retained only for a year or two, when it becomes dark green. The young growth, therefore, contrasts beautifully with the older stems. How provoking it is to see visitors touch these plants with their hands to see "if they are not painted," and leave their indelible mark on them ! The red-flowering cereuses, such as C. speciosissimus, C. coccineus, etc . bear very brilliant flowers. The most distinct bloomer is certainly Cereus Baumanni. With us it blooms winter and summer. A plant cut off at two feet from the base has borne more than fifty flowers since Christmas, and is still showing buds. The flowers are only about 2 ½ inches long, tubular, slightly recurved, bright vermilion and orange yellow. This cereus must be kept growing winter and summer; if allowed to become too dry the top will shrivel up.

From true cerouses we naturally drift to the section pilocereus, especially to P. senilis, old man cactus, which is covered with long, white, silky hairs, that make it so attractive to any who sees it. We well remember how careful we were of our first two specimens obtained from Mexico, by way of Europe (!), at the cost of a good round sum True, they were but a few inches high, but just as handsome as the old fellows three or four feet tall. We are not afraid, now, to wash with soap and water when their hair becomes dusty. Experience has taught us that if planted in very sandy sail, the old man likes plenty of water at the roots and over his hairy coat.

AU the pilocereuses, it must be remembered, are not hairy; indeed, some have formidable spines, but they are all valuable and considered beautiful plants. P. Dautwitsi is entirely covered with very fine white hair, curled all over the stem, and is usually valued at one dollar per inch. We doubt if ten plants of it exist in the New World. P. Houlletti is also very remarkable from the fact that it has tufts of white hairs projecting between the spines, usually pointing to the north only probably as a protection from cold winds. This plant, however, is so liable to rot that its cultivation should not be encouraged.

The mamillarias, while mostly small as compared with cereuses and echinocactuses. are just as interesting. Here again we find that, as a rule, the handsome spined varieties have the least attractive flowers, and vice versa. For those with limited means and space, mamillarias will prove very attractive. Look at the little M. micro-meris, one-half inch in diameter, with a tiny rosy flower nearly as large (or as small!) as the delicate button-like plant! And what a tough little chap it is ! Here are a couple of stray little fellows that have been lying on our desk for six or seven weeks, after traveling thousands of miles. We brought them home in our vest pocket. They are harmless - no spines to prick your fingers. Just put them in a small pot of moist sand and see if, in a few days, a bright coral seed pod will not appear, and after that, little satin-like pink flowers ! With an intelligent selection, a fine show can be made with mamillarias alone, as the colors of the spines vary through white, gray, pink, purplish, yellow and brown-black. Those not closely set with spines show the green body of the plant, and are indispensable for contrast.

All the foregoing species of cactuses may be grown with success in any kind of very sandy soil, in well-drained pots just large enough to hold the plants. Large pots and soggy soil will surely kill any cactus. Water moderately from March until October. Some of the cereuses, however, will take a richer soil, and may be repotted when the pots are full of roots if good growth is required. Cereus grandiflorus will bloom much better and sooner if allowed to become pot-bound, but it should then be liberally watered when growing, using liquid manure when in bud.

Some people have " luck " with the leaf cactus, or phyl-locactus; others have not. Look at the one on the farmer's porch, in an old milk can ; the water from the roof is nearly drowning it, yet it has over twenty buds ! But here is Mr. Orchid, who has a fine greenhouse in the city and follows instructions closely, and he has to wait five years for a flower ! We have seen phyllocac-tuses full of bloom when three years old. Three inches deep of sheep manure was placed in the bottom of the pot, but next year the plants were dead.