but are kept on during wet or dull weather, and at night. Under this
treatment, many of the species assume a reddish appearance, and the
thick fleshy-stemmed kinds generally shrivel somewhat. There is no
occasion for alarm in the coloured and shrivelled appearance of the
plants: on the contrary, it may be hailed as a good sign for flowers.

A common complaint in relation to Cacti as flowering plants is that they
grow all right but rarely or never flower. The explanation of this is
shown by the fact that the plants must be properly ripened and rested
before they can produce flowers. On the approach of cold weather the
plants which were removed to a frame to be ripened should be brought
back into the house for the winter, and kept quite dry at the roots till
the return of spring, when their flowers will be developed either before
or soon after the watering season again commences.

Hitherto we have been dealing with those genera which have thick fleshy
stems; but there still remain the genera Rhipsalis, Epiphyllum, and
Phyllocactus, which are not capable of bearing the long period of
drought advised for the former. The last-mentioned genus should,
however, be kept almost dry at the root during winter, and, if placed in
a light, airy house till the turn of the year, the branches will ripen,
and set their flower buds much more readily than when they are wintered
in a moist, partially-shaded house. During summer all the Phyllocactuses
delight in plenty of water, and, when growing freely, a weak solution of
manure affords them good food. Epiphyllums must be kept always more or
less moist at the root, though, of course, when growing freely, they
require more water than when growth has ceased for the year, which
happens late in autumn. The same rule applies to Rhipsalis, none of the
species of which are happy when kept long dry. For the several species
of Opuntia and Echinopsis, which are sufficiently hardy to be cultivated