remained healthy for a considerable time, and it would be easy to add to
this numerous other instances of the remarkable tenacity of life
possessed by these plants. At Kew, it is the common practice, when the
large-growing specimens get too tall for the house in which they are
grown, to cut off the top of the stem to a length of 6 ft. or 8 ft., and
plant it in a pot of soil to form a new plant. The old base is kept for
stock, as it often happens that just below the point where the stem was
severed, lateral buds are developed, and these, when grown into
branches, are removed and used as cuttings. Large Opuntias are treated
in the same way, with the almost invariable result that even the largest
branches root freely, and are in no way injured by what appears to be
exceedingly rough treatment. Large cuttings striking root so freely, it
must follow that small cuttings will likewise soon form roots, and, so
far as our experience--which consists of some years with a very large
collection of Cactuses--goes, there is not one species in cultivation
which may not be easily multiplied by means of cuttings. The nature of a
Cactus stem is so very different from the stems of most other plants,
that no comparison can be made between them in respect of their
root-developing power; the rooting of a Cactus cutting being as certain
as the rooting of a bulb. The very soft, fleshy stems of some of the
kinds such as the Echinocactus, should be exposed to the air for a time,
so that the cut at the base may dry before it is buried in the soil. If
the base of a plant decays, all that is necessary is the removal of the
decayed portion, exposure of the wound to the air for two or three days,
and then the planting of the cutting in a dry, sandy soil, and placing
it in a warm moist house till rooted. All cuttings of Cactuses may be
treated in this way. If anything proves destructive to these cuttings,
it is excessive moisture in the soil, which must always be carefully
guarded against.