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CEREUS GIGANTEUS CRISTATA, The accompanying engraving 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 hands, with teams, derrick and paraphernalia, to secure the top. After many miles of travelling and tiresome climbing our collectors arrived on the spot, when lo ! 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 he 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, too, of life. We have some plants 6, 7 and 8 feet high, 3 feet or more in circumference, which were lost on their way from our ranch in New Mexico for a period of nearly 9 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 3 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 to us by Florida have proved perfectly hardy ; indeed, we are informed that in their native home they grow at an elevation where the thermometer reaches 10 degrees above zero. Last year we shipped a 12-foot giant direct from New Mexico to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. This plant weighed nearly 1,500 pounds, and was received without a broken spine. 31