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PREFACE 


TWENTIETH CENTURY FARMING 
BETTER FORAGE, BETTER FRUIT 


For hundreds, probably thousands of years, the great, rapid growing, desert. thorny 
| cactus (Opuntias and others) have furnished food for stock and fruit for man, especially in 
Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Mexico, where | the fruit, though ‘rather ‘seedy. and 
difficult or almost dangerous see handle, is Veuy, highly prized, more SO perhaps than any other 
fruit except the orange and banana, : 

-The whole plant furntshes nutritious: food in- abundances, yet Brest. pain ane often death | 
was the penalty for using them. eet phe ee eee 

Fifteen years ago the first. scientific experiments for their improvement were instituted 
on my farms and the interest in these new products. has” been. “so far. reaching. ‘that. the offi 
cial representatives of almost. every’ government on earth have shown: their: profound appre- 
ciation for the work, either by correspondence, personal investigation c or. purchase of some of 


1 2 


the new varieties first offered four years ago. : So 
- It has now been fully demonstrated that these new Burbank Opuntias (cactus) thrive even 
better in the fertile valleys than on the desert. wastes, producing. “most - “astounding. ‘crops 
not only of forage for. stock and poultry put: most nourishing . and. most” ‘delicious, large and 
strikingly beautiful fruits of many forms, colors and qualities, Sixty fo see “Hundred - Tons 
per aere of it on good soil. pes tae 
Some of the new ‘Burbank fruiting varieties have yielded and will. yield more trait per. 
acre even the third. and fourth» year from rooted cuttings ‘than the. best. apple orchards 
will in ten years; and at one- -tenth the expense; And better ‘yet; the crop of fruit is as certain. 
as the return of the seasons, increasing. in quantity. each season with no cultivation and: no 


are whatever EaECDE to pick and | market when ripe or nearly ripe like other fruits. 


LUT THER BURBANK, ‘Santa Rusa, Cal Mays OLE 


HISTORIC 


EARLY EXPERIMENTS 


For more than fifty years I have been quite familiar with “thornless cactus” of many : 


species and varieties. In fact, one of the first pets which I had in earliest childheod was a 
thornless cactus, one of the beautiful EHpiphyllums. The Phyllocactus and many of the Cere- 


-us family are also thornless, not a trace to be found on any part of the plants or fruit. Thus 
the somewhat indefinite popular name. of “spineless cactus’ has been used by: persons unac- 


-quainted with these. facts, for be it. known that - ‘thornless cactus” is no more of a novelty 
than: a. ‘thornless’ watermelon. But among the Cacti. which grow to an immense size with 


great. rapidity and which can ‘be readily cultivated in garden, field or desert. no perfectly 


‘thornless: ones were known and~ very little interest taken in the cacti of any kind either — 


thorny or thornless as to their agricultural or horticultural yalue until some sixteen years 
ago. when the work of improvement was taken up on my experiment farms and improved per- 


» feetly smooth, rapid-growing varieties had been. produced and made known. Some of the 


best growers. among these will produce five to ten times. as much weight of focd as will the — 
wild thorny ones. (which some ignorant or unprincipled dealers have recommended for cultivt- 


tion) under exactly the game conditions. ~ These wonderful results were not unexpected as 


the genus Opuntia is a surprisingly variable one evel: in the wild state. The best botanist 


—even those who have made the Opuntias a special study—declare it to be one of the most 
difficult genera to classify, as new forms are constantly appearing and the older ones so 
gradually and imperceptibly merge together. The facts without doubt are that their an- 
-.cestors had leaves like other vegetation and were as thornless as ap apple tree, but in ages 
past were stranded in a region which was gradually turning to a desert, perhaps, by the 
slow evaporation of some great inland lake or sea. Being thus stranded the plants which 
could adapt themselves to the heat and drought which as the years passed by became each sea- 
son more and more severe, survived, at first by. dropping the leaves thus .preventing. too 
much evaporation, leaving the fat smooth stems only to. perform the funetions of leaves. 
The Opuntias even to this day always shoot cut very numerous rudimentary leaves which 
persist a few days-or weeks and then having no function te perform drop off. These rudimentary 


leaves which always appear for a time on the young slabs are often mistaken for big thorns 


by those who are not familiar with the growth and habits of the plant. But the Opuntias had 
yet to meet another enemy; desert animals were. hungry | for their rich stores of nutriment 


and water, so the rudimentary: leaves were replaced by. the awful needle-like thorns placed at. 


exactly the right angles for the best defense, and, at the base of these—partially embedded — 


in the stems—(now leaves) are numerous bundles of smaller needles, more than: ten thousand | 


to each leaf and these are even more dangerous than the larger needles, often pr roducing: great SE 


pain, inflammation and at last death, to animals whe were pressed by. starvation to consume 
them for food. 


Some fifteen years ago, while testing the availability of a great ume of proposed. fords: 


-plants from the various arid regions of the world with a view to the improvement of the. most 


promising, | was greatly.impressed with the apparent possibilities. in this line among the 
Qpuntias which from their well known vigor and rapidity of growth, easy multiplication and 
universal adaptability to condition of drought, ficod, heat, cold, rich or arid soil. plaee them 
as a class far ahead of all other members. of the great cactus family, both as forage plants: and 


for their most. attractive, wholesome. and delicious fruits, which are produced abundantly and 


without fail each season, These fruits which are borne on the different sitecles. and varie~ ane aie 


ties, vary in size from that of a small peanut to the size of a very large banana and in 
colors of crimson, scarlet, orange, yellow and white and also shaded tin various colors like 
apples, pears, peaches and plums, and with more various attractive flavors than are found in 
most other fruits except perhaps the apple and the pear, the product of a single plant being 
often from 50 to 200 pounds per annum, some bearing one crop, others two or more each 
season like the figs, the first or main crop PIpening as the second comes into. bloom on the 
same plants. 

The Opuntias, from rank to tip, are practically all food and drink and are eer pelichid 
by all herbivorous animals from a canary bird to an elephant and for this very reason have 
had to be on the defensive and perhaps nowhere in. the whole vegetable. kingdom have such 
elaborate preparations been made; the punishment inflicted is immediate, the pain severe 
and lasting, often ending in death, so that all liwng things have learned to avoid the Opun- 
tias as rast do rattlesnakes, and notwithstanding. their most delicious and nourishing fruit 
produced unfailingly in greatest abundance have never. before been systematically improved 
by the Agriculturist and Horticulturist as their merits so well deserve: 

By the collectors and others, for the earliest. experiments - in this work the best Opuntias 
from all sections of Mexico, from Central and South America, from North and South: Africa, 
Australia, Japan, Hawaiian and the South Sea islands, were. secured. The United . States 
Agricultural Department at Washington, through my friend, Mr. David- G. Fairchild, also 
secured eight kinds of partially thornless ones for me. from. Sicily, Italy, France and North . 
Africa, besidesa small collection of Mexican. wild thorny : ones- which- were in the govern- 
ment greenhouses. at the time. Besides these ‘I -had the. hardy wild species from- Maine; 
Towa, Missouri, Colorado, California, Arizona, New. Mexico, Dakota, Texas and other states. 
‘All these were grown and their. agricultural and horticultural values studied and. compared 
with great care.- Many so-called thornless or- partly thornless: ones: were obtained, but. not 


one among the thousands received from all these sources was. free from - thorns. and 


spicules and even worse, those which were. the most promising in these respects often bore 
the poorest frait, were the most. unproductive OF fruit or produced less fodder or were less- 
hardy than the wild thorny species and varieties. The first work was to select the best of 
these, cross them, raise numerous seedlings, select the best of these and so continue hoping 
for improvement. One of the first and not unexpected facts of. importance to. be observed, 
was that by crossing, the thorns were often imereased rather than _ diminished, but not so 
with all. Some very few still became even more. thornless than their so-ealled _ thornless 
parents greatly increased size and quality of leaves (raquettes oer siabs) and anrong them — 
a combination. of the best qualities of both parents with surprising productiveness of slabs 
for feeding. ~The work is still in progress - but on a still larger scale and now. these improved 
- Opuntias promise to be one of the: most important food-producers. of this age, some of these 
new creations grown from the same lot of seed yielding ees Ie ten. times as. mueh feed. as 
otherg under exactly the same conditions. — 

Old half thornless ones have been grown ae ages. Among: the very numerous “ae aed 
ling Opuntias, partially thornless ones have appeared. ‘from time. to time and these have 
been growing generally unnoticed here and there ‘in every part> of the earth where the thorny 
ones grew, the seeds no doubt scattered . “py birds and other agencies. Some of these bore 
fairly good but seedy fruits and have been locally cultivated for ages, but have never re-. 
ceived snecific horticultural. names. or descriptions though the fruits of these and the thorny 
ones: have long been used -extensively as food and are the principal source of food for mil- 
lions of human beings in Southern Europe, North Africa, Mexico and other lands, for about 

three months in each year. : 
Systematic work for their improvement has. saws how pliable and readay moulded is 
this. unique, hardy denizen of rocky, drought-cursed, wind- -swept, sun- -blistered districts and 
- how readily at, adapts itself to more fertile so: Ss and how rapidly it HER TAVES under eulti- 
vation and improved conditions. _ 

Some one asks: “Won't they. run wild again “and produce thorns, when placed under 
desert conditions?” _ 
a Has the “Burbank” plum which ihoush. mtroduced twenty-two years ago and is now more 
-widely grown than any other plum on this earth, shown a tendency to be different in Africa, 
~ Borneo, Japan, Egypt, Madagascar or France? No; it is the same everywhere and the resi- 
dents of Chicago, Auckland, London, “San Francisco, New York and Valparaiso consume them 
-in great (and rapidly increasing) numbers of carloads each season. The same may be said- 


of the later introduced Wickson, America and numerous other plums and of my improved 
fruits and flowers which are extensively grown and generally offered for sale by most re- 
sponsible firms in all civilized countries and are eon slowly but very surely replacing 
the old and heretofore standard varieties. 

It will be so with these “new creations” in Opuntia which 1 now offer. Tens of . 
thousands of others not now ready to be distributed are under test, this circular partially 
describing only the beginnings of a great work with the Bria which in importance may 
be classed with the discovery of a new continent. | fa 

Does this work which has been only just briefly outlinea mean’ anything? Intelligent 
people everywhere know well that it means a new. agricultural era for whole continents — 
like Australia and Africa and millions of otherwise useless acres in North and South America, . 
Europe and Asia. And now during the past three years the United States Department of 
Agriculture have despatched agents to all parts. where cacti grow to look up this matter — 
among those who had for years been feeding the wild, thorny ones to their stock with 
good results when properly prepared. by fire, though it is. acknowledged that thus prepared 
a portion of their nutritive value is lost and though the dangers of loss from feeding to 
stock are lessened, are not by any means made safe, even by- singeing or any other process, 
while many of these new thornless ones are as safe to handle and as safe to feed as beets; 
potatoes, carrots or pumpkins. ; ) : 

. - But Tet ‘it be understool that these. ‘sen are not growing on the wild Opuniias for 
ornament any more than. poison fangs, teeth, claws and stings are possessed by various 
animals. ‘They are for defense, and when deprived of these defenses they must be pro- 
tected. from stock like any other feed grown in farm, fields or gardens. Still some doubter 
who. has no. knowledge of desert cond: tions or of these new plants will say, “Will it pay?” 
Does anything pay? Some people seem to think that corn, wheat, oats, barley, cotton, rice, 
tobacco, melons and potatoes pay. How many tons of hay, beets. or potatoes. can be raised 
each season on an acre of good soil? Yes, well, by actual weight in the summer of 1906 
in the cool coast climate of Sonoma County, Cal., on a heavy, black “adobe”. soil, gener- 
ally thought wholly unsuited for cactus, my new Opuntias “produced the first year, six” 
months from single rooted leaves, planted about June 1st, an average of 47% pounds per — 
plant on one-fourth acre, yielding at the distance planted 2%x5 feet) at the rate of 


180.236 pounds (over ninety tons) of forage per acre. Some of the best varieties produced By § 


very much above this average. Though planted much too closely for permanent field eul-— 
ture yet these notes are of interest on a subject of which little has been known: - These , 
Opuntias are always expected to and do produce: nearly or quite double as much feed the 
third and succeeding years as they do the second season of planting. Yet, I would not ex- 
pect one-fourth the above yield on desert soil without. irrigation but would “expect nearly 
or quite twice as much as the yield mentioned above in a sip warm climate by one. or 
two light irrigations each season. 

These improved Opuntias must of course be fericéa, from stock when young put after 


two or three years’ growth stock may safely be turned loose among them-as with age the ~ 


main stem becomes woody ‘and will not be injured, ‘but-on removal of stock will at once 
make a most rapid new growth. The leaves are to be fed to stock when most needed, and 
in countries where great numbers of valuable ‘stock are lost in times of unusual drought, 
will be of inestimable value and will also prove of enormous value in less arid countries - 
as a common farm or orchard crov even on the best agricultural soils but more especially — 
on barren, rocky, hill and mountain sides and eae ds river beds which are now of no use eee 
whatever. | | oe a rsa 
The small, hard, wild thorny cactus: has been a common odie food. for horses, 9 
camels, mules, oxen, growing and beef stock, dairy cows, pigs, and poultry ‘for more than , 


fifty years, though millions have died from the thorns,* yet, no systematic work for their Big 


improvement had been taken up until some fifteen years ago: now agriculturists and horti- 
culturists in every land are deeply interested and the governments of all countries are tak- 
ing measures to secure a stock of the improved Burbank Opuntias to avoid if possible the ~ 


too common occurrence of famines, for the Opuntias can remain uncultivated and undis- ics en 
turbed year after year, constantly increasing in size and weight until needed; then each — aa 
acre will preserve the lives of a hundred animals or even human beings for months until Pep -o 


other food can be obtained. 


ee: The wild cactus is prepared by Boifine or Steaming in ae oe in times of drought, but even ecawnd that loss of stock 
is sometimes reported when thus prepared, some are saved from otherwise certain starvation. mak to 


Samples of Various pees on 
ee the Work | 


“Mr. Burbank’s first publication: on. econo. (TO BEGIN (PLANTING THE ‘THORNLESS 
mic. cacti serves to set at rest many grotund- CACTUS. 
less suppositions as to the character of the 
work he -has had under way for years on . David Griffiths Assigned by the Government 


these plants. Some persons forgetting’ that: te Locate Burbank’s Plant. ain Arid 
Mr. Burbank has made up tb now no Official i 


oe , @ eo. ‘Sections for Experimental 
announcement of his work jumped ‘tow the: siete ah rts sme ee aa 
conclusion that he had merely hit upon*one | Lk Easiencaaie oe; 
of the common nearly spineless forms OE ees ct? ; : ‘ > 
Opuntia Ficus Indica. Others more dishonest = “The. work of “locating” Euther Burbank’s | 
have been offering for sale so-called “Bur- © - thornless cactus and ‘establishing the plant 
bank’s Thornless Cactus” despite the: fact _ in ‘the State as a forage for stock will be. 
that neta single plant or seed of: Mr. Bur- © undertaken by the: United Beales angcionte 
_bank’s new ¢reations has left his eteunee al. Department. aces 
up toa few weeks REI sear SS : a ean “The smooth “cactus ‘vavinie < no: howe is a 


> Mr. Burbank: was perfectly. well aware ae very. nutritious fodder plant and: is greedily 
the incéption of his work -on the opuntias” eaten by stock» It was developed from the 
“that there were. many forms nearly thornless. - ordinary, thorny cactus -by Luther. Burbank.. 
- and-~he has. even ‘brought’ to. light ene kind, ~The’ Agricultural. ‘Department, at Washington. 
which he calls the “Marin,” grown in many recognizing the: great’ benefit - te ‘pe deriv: ed. 


countries ‘that has” neither. spines. nor. spicu-- from -this desert. plant. when. ‘available. as -& 

les. ‘The Marin is not of much - value,. how- . -ferage plant, is making a determined effort 
“Sev er, ‘as it. is a rather. small plant and is “not © : to. introduce: it’ inte the. desert regions of the 
hardy. The new. forms are- much. more. rapid . 2 Western. ‘States. “San. Francisco : “Examin- 5 

srowers. and are. also ‘more: hardy.” a9 eae S Sere ee Ie MO aE CS RD TiN EEF SS ai 
“ ==Dr. “Walter. T. Swingle, U. B,. Dept. of, 2 Piet Boga deep Nene ACh eae = SAStugh log Seep ae S 


Aprteuttare,, poeeime ton, Dd. M52 a -s)) ..“Burbank’'s: thornless -cattus . is: certainly 
; See a --  preving itself. to be. the. modern vegetable — 
i “ST Leiner. ‘Burbank: has peek ‘granted the = “marvel. - Nothing» like -it. has | ever. “been™ pro- 
a. knowledge. . “supreme. beyond other men, “of > _ duced etere< Its: vitality surpasses, the lim- 
=? Sth ¢ ‘susceptibility _ of. plants. to vary. under it of belief; for nothing in the vegetable 
‘the influence of: new. environments, delicate” —world- has ev er shown such wonderful resist- 


Wis os ‘manipulation, and intelligent direction.’ Te ee _capacity, such reproductive powers, such. 
a ges * sf Someniahe: American.” a exuberance of growth,” = "Standard," Bureka, 
= eee ae: ant. risk at Fn ye, ; : 
“The man who. alwavs does qnage says the. aE: Seti ion Pees é SS 
least.. Your good works will bless” humanity * ae S- ‘BURBANK’S SPINELESS CACTUS | 
long after you have said “Good Night. Be Your Ns eer eee 
work is always ‘a’ source of ‘inspiration ics Sige Spee Se By Prof. H. A: Adrian” 


me, -and.I am. continuously" hig er tie “What 


. a h ; h tP Santee “Th eye is So- iach ote misunderstanding ‘on. 
wi e eRe ED is nex reset 


he part of the~ general. public. ‘concerning 
-Burbank’s ‘spineless cactus and “so many 
ae Dept. of Agrieuilure, ‘Washington, D Ser foolish: and misleading statements going’ the 
ay ee ria Ae pee cc Peneds that’ were born of “ignorance and en- 
While’ I shane: line ben impressed swith. “-vy, that it seems worth while to give a little | 
-your work, Tam now: overwhelmed ‘with the ~of the history of this famous plant and make 
vast amount. of - good which. you: have been clear. the claims it has for a place among the 


able to accomplish: 7s respect. ‘your. work — greatest food-producers knewn to man: 


above ‘all that. hae: ever been: done. for. horti- -. “That there should be much of envy and any 
CULE NREL 2 x amount of misstatement of him and his work 
—Prof. “Wm... cS “Alwood, Virginia, College is to be expected. It has always béen so and 
~ and ‘Experiment Stations 272 arp Ns Pe perhaps. always be the-lot of those who 
ee ee ka Oh. Sor ie Sealy f a Sn ce do the world’s. great. things. ‘Meantime he 
“Burbank eae never ‘made any Fide: pre-_. toils placidly — ‘on in his -wonderful gardens 


tense as” ‘to the ‘spineless’ cactus, cand it ‘must secure in the ‘knowledge on the world-wide 
hurt his feelings. to bax SOS: blundering” and agé-long - good he is. doing in the high 
_ peneil- -pusher » hurtle. his. : - “discoveries’™ - Bt - place that_even~conservative scientists have 
the © world. de —"News Letter,” San Francisco,, accorded him among the ‘great ones for all 


Cal =: BA Dna ee PO thse al Cs tee alee _ time.’ —"Press' (Santa “Barbara, Calif. 


“There are several good reasons why Mr. 
Burbank and his work may be reported er- 
roneously in the public prints. Chief of these 
is, naturally, 
him or the matters that pertain to his work. 


There is the subtle mystery of his peculiar 
intellectual faculties, the intricate processes : 


he has evolved for the work of earrying on 
plant | creation, and finally those creations 
themselves, which truly are such marvels: of 
newness, beauty ‘and worth that extravagant 
praise of them and -eulogies of their origin- 
ator are not surprising. 

“Mr. Burbank . has, for twenty-five years 


“past, kept notes and records of his work. in. 


the greatest profusion and with © perfect 
exactness. These invaluable records have 
not yet been published, but the fact of their 


existence is a guarantee to the. public that 


it: may yet hope to read and study the his- 
tory 


his own pen.’ "Out West... 


“He is: one whid, like ieaison “in the sphere 
of human industry, stands near the apex of 
mundane possibilities. 
One day this -week . he" ‘stood : ‘before an “AS 
semblage - of _learned, practical * ‘men, s 
were’ ~having under” consideration, ‘the. reela- 
“mation of the arid wastes in the Great West 
and told that he” had discovered. how- to pro- 


‘duce and “eultivate a thornless | cactus which 
would yield -tons per acre -of- nutritious’ food - 
for both man and beast, without. ‘irrigation, | 


$8 Be TRL E- 
rigationists, he was the. chief - - BERR; 
Tdol of-the Hom tp SSE 


“Such men as Bicank Edison: ad ‘Agazis 


have cage fas to be a Bees blessing - to man- 
kind.” — Bat an td gine ig eae 

“Tt. must -bé—ani igiiense eaisteAed to 
you to see your creations ‘so. thoroughly 
vindicated-after such ‘malignant attacks, but 


no doubt you are accustomed to that,. even. 
‘the thoroughly oe and- villainous articles _ 


of the n—- Ne Y— rs Ba EG WwW. a 


CACTUS ERA UINBVITARLE eee 


“The paetas: era ‘is: just ‘opening. “Ten. or 
twenty years hence many well- informed men 


believe, the eactus will have supplanted - and - 
displaced alfalfa throughout a great area of.- 
the; 


the civilized world... Why? Because - 
cactus will grow -with little or no irrigation, 
upon. any kind of. soil, with infinitely. 


duce’ far greater results in yield of fodder. 
“The romance and. marvel of. the. 
bank Cactus would fill a large book. 
story of the sixteen years of. patient effort 
employed by that. wonder-worker, Luther 
Burbank, justly calls for a pie ae Mera: 
ture. : $7 
“Imagine, if you please, 
the cacti of the world, selecting from all of 
these varieties the best, 
lions of seedlings, 
them selecting. “and -reselecting _and, finally, 
-after. sixteen years triumphantly “evolving: - 


millions 
the difficulty of understanding 


“This, 


working accomplishments, 


of. the- sory of Luther Burbank from 


; for their ostriches, cas it 


~He isto be’ ‘believed. ae 
- Cactus -as good. and not ; ERE: as ‘cost-: 


who 


less. 
attention than alfalfa must have and will pro- 


Bur-. 
The | 


a man poltanpine: 


_ causes joy 
- Rowe, 
-as the freight charges are _considerable.’ eta 


oa, * bn 


then growing Ymit=- 
crossing “and _ recrossing. 


from this patient, laborious process and from 
of discarded cacti, seyen ‘plants 
which were not only free from spines but 


which possessed the growing and feeding 


values for which he had so long Striven. 

in a nutshell, is what Luther Burbank 

did with the cactus. Sometimes out of 100,-— 
000. seedlings, he destroyed 99,999, ‘The re- 

maining individual he watched and tended 

as carefully as a mother her nursing. babe, 

Patience, infinite: patience, had to be added. 
to the Burbank ‘genius eee truly Spineless 
Cactus. % 


“Of. those anxious ones STAY, hayé endeay- 


ored to detract. from the merit of. this, the. 


greatest of the Burbank triumphs, we «will - 
say nothing. The Burbank Thornless Cactus. = > 


speaks for itself.. It will, by its wonder=. 
best answer. all. 
critics, _ Whether malicious. or eT Se 
Wx... si 

“The largest osthigh-: ace in the. world | 
(situated in. Arizona), having over 3000. 
birds, are preparing to put out 100 aeres 
is an ideal food. 


They: ‘now feed alfalfa exclusively, but find 


ly. oe] 


- sumpo Xx EATS ‘THORNLESS cacres: 


y Elephaat- “Refuses. ‘Ordinary Food and Bure 
bank Product - Has ‘to Be Shipped nore 


seh From Arizona 


is pak B S Ce P SP htt : na Ls Me tig? 
In that great convention - of ‘ips. 
sal 


“Because one of the ‘elephants with the 
ers in Arizona, the show: managers. are now 
compelled to ship the ‘Burbank ‘product to. 


~The ‘show is to be in Seattle | 


for three days, ‘eommencing next “Monday, 


press. 


er “Thorniess_ cactus. is as our managers Shak 

the proverbial red_ rag is to the pull, gate 
a ca He 233 ithaiatriok, the circus press _ 
: last - 
wizard - announced to. the world his 


night. “When the California — plant— 


creation, the managers of the- show 


a few experiémnts. © They have. ‘a- big camel 


and elephant . raneh in Arizona, and an “acre 
of the ~eactus was planted. 
small ‘quantities were fed tothe animals as 2 
grew on that. one - 
— acre we had ‘the food problem= for the. ani> oe 
“mals vat “the winter quarters solved. At first’ 
the. elephants did not. like it, = but- later 3 noth-" oe 


from the quantity which 


ing else would ‘satisfy- them. or 


Norris. & Rowe shows took. -e ‘liking: to the = et 
thornless cactus when at the “winter- quart— re 


every. point — along” the ‘line of. travel. at a tet 
heavy” expense. 


and several. bales are expected: rere: Dy exe Re 


ageni, _ 


tatest. - 
began =e Ss 


When ~ ready, oi 


“After. the show got on the ais one: af: 


the elephants — spurned — the hay, oats” and. 


- peanuts which. constitute: the. usual food, and t: 


seemed to. be. pining for his daily eaetus.— 
Finally 
have: it- shipped to each town in bales,. ‘and. 
when Jumbo _XXIIL spies. that bale_ 
trumpets and takes. on in- a: manner- which- 
among the spectators. 


however, do not appreciate the: joke, 


“Post- Intelligencer,” ‘Seattle. pike 


- 2 . ae 


Norris. & Rowe were. compelled to ‘ 


he” fe ‘ 


~ Norris aes 


“er 


HOW TO PLANT ; 


The Opuntias differ from deal all. atiter fnaee as the cut ngs ‘should be wilted some 
before they will root and grow rapidly after which nothing grows. so readily. When received 
place them in some warm shady place. and allow them to” remain a few days or a week after 
which they will readily form roots and start to stow anywhere, even on a board, a pile of 
rocks. or the roof of a house if you choose. When wilted, the usual way is to plant so that 
ese: one-third or one-half of the cutting is below the soil, they may be planted in an up- 

ight position or at any angle from the perpendicular, or even THEO flat on the ground, 
: peek no Hpere ace “to — Sones 


eS Lae "DISTANCES. FOR PLANTING 


2 ree fairly. good Si in general field ruses: for stock feed, these New. sieee -growing 


‘kinds ‘should. be planted about three or. four feet apart in the rows and the rows should be . 


about ten: feet. apart. Tn orchard planting for the large - 
twelve feet. would. be more convenient. 2: 
The selection of: ordinary Opuntia. cuttings is of some. importance. “Those who have grown 
them on ‘the: ‘shores. of. the ‘Mediterranean for hundreds of years always select. 
wood” ‘if fruit is: the object, and. the Teast. thorny: and bristly leaves if/a plantation is to be. 
produced: for: forage; even some. of. the partially ‘spiny: -ones may be made less so by - careful, 
selection of cuttings but: Aus) labor. ‘Is : hell useless . ‘since: ‘the new Burbank varieties: ae 
offered. ES gh Tekh pee Seer fie 
. When Alfalfa was: “generally - Shad dues about twenty years. ‘ago, “many wiseacres -de- 
Clare® it was. no feed for mileh-cows.- whe says” ‘it is uot good: for them now? g 


growing, aeons: varieties. four by 


“THE SPINELESS | cactus: “SPINELESS. cactus | 


“ Bpere ‘are “two essential features of the | bs SEuther : tustanies eaaineises cactus. “has 
“subject which are but little. “understood by “been. introduced in Yuma, and the results of | 


; “bearing Sh 


: candid. 
‘To the average American man the “cactus | iS 
Beh 2 has! 
always. been, even ‘in its wild state; a_ valu- 
“Mexico > 


the average American farmer or: gardener, Ke 


-on:both of- which Mr.-Burbank: has. been Very. 
Boe ee 


in his - ‘public writings. 
a painful and useless thing. That 


abte- article: LOf commerce in: Texas » 
and some- foreign countries. "as ‘a: -food ‘for 


humans and Tive Stok: -and- poultry: will Pe 


mene (Herald. 2 


ete 


surprising ; bo, 
Mexico. é 


a is” universally recobnized:. Liieaploc: 


the cactus. region of. Texas “that the plant © 
has—a decided ‘tendency to increase ‘the flow 
of milk. There are hundreds of ox teams in 
Texas: that work all ‘the year on ration. con-. 
_ sisting. very” Targely of cactus all the time, 
and” practically. 
“The: condition of the stock which ens 
received — the \ cactus during» the. ‘winter - ap-- 
pears. to be “very: much better, than. that of 
those wintered - on good. ary pastures. ‘Feed-- 
‘ers without exception make this. observation. : 
“Cattle. and working oxen “will eat a large: - 
ration of~ (wild) cactus” properly | ‘prepared 
(burning: oft. thorns): when’ there’ is an -abund-» 
> anee:- ‘of. the - best” green’. grass” for 
eat.’ 2 


gS “Te is: demonstrated ‘beyond the cauNG 
Set Be doubt that cattle will eat. cactus in pre- — 
gee to. calfalfa.’— 
= Rte ae Let ve Poe 


nothing” else for months. . 


“Beacon,” ie -Fortuna, Calif. 


- tesa 


re ai" 
925 = Sa 


i; thrived - prodigiously. 
= from. three to four feet high, ‘and. each plant. 2 
has: ‘put out. trom twelve to” twenty” ; 
“These leaves have: grown until they are from” 
‘two to three feet long, a foot or-more wide, 
and two-to three inches thick."—“Times,” 
Los Angeles Calif. ; 


: “state, ie 
thornless” cactus: ‘growing Side. by side with 
>the’ best. varieties. of the. government’ s thorn~ . 


= of irrigation. 


baie Beach, . RE 


24s: propogation by- Yocal agricultural experis 
They have < 


‘menters : are highly. satisfactory- ‘ 
The plants are. now. 


2 “The “growing ‘of the spineless cactus is no) * 
daca a dream. The wonder of the desert, 
as brought out by “Wizard Burbank” in his 
experimental - farms | ‘in California, has. been 
; tested in several parts of. Arizona ‘and has 


been ‘found to..do- well.” 
Iup, New. Mexico. 


“Enterprise ” Gal- 


“ 


some “MORE. ABour SPINELESS cacrus 


= “On one. ‘of: eur ‘experimental farms, in this 
“we have. some. y of. Mr. Burbank’s 


less cactus, distributed. last spring. 


government ‘eactus, | is 


about fifteen to. ‘one: ‘At our Bagie- Rock 


nursery, near this city, we ‘have. obtained: a. 
_ reproduction of 400,000: from. 25,000 since Jan-. 


uary of this: year, and ‘that. without: ene drop 
= PRPErON ION | Shiver City. -Né 


leaves. Sem 


“The rate. ‘of ‘increase -On the part of fie eb oR 
_ poorest. of. the Burbank cactus | as: compared 


A he the best of the 
‘them Sher 


LNAWIadxa FA FHL JO ANO dO YANYOD ANO JO MGIA 


SGAHS DNIADVd GNV ASNOH DNILVOOdOUd _ JOOHOS ANVEUNG WH.LNT 


pr 
$0 iz 


ae ON 


Only Nine Years Required to Wake 
Up the “Experts it! 


The existence of the United States Department of Agriculture has been rightly supposed 
to be, among other things, for the purpose of fostering and encouraging improved methods 
of culture and of improved forms of plant life which promises to be of benefit 
to Agriculture. That the cause of agriculture and horticulture would receive a great 
and lasting benefit by the prompt dismissal of some of the low browed, narrow gauge, ‘pin 
headed” employees who have to keep shouting to hold their places and who are largely re- 
_sponsible for the trash, free seed, and the. trash, so -called “spineless” cactus distribution is 
too well known to need further comment. 

After my own. experiments in the improvement of the Opuntias had been in progress 
nine years (1905) astounding variations and numerous improvements were rapidly appear- 
ing, such as absolute spimelessness (never before known), greatly increased size and nutrient 
qualities of the pads er. slabs for feeding, enlarged fruits of exquisite forms and colors, de- 
lightful aromas and flavors, wonderfully increased abundance of fruit and forage pro- 
duction per acre, and gradual but sure approach to one of the greatest desideratums of all, 
seedlessiiess. (This has since been fully accomplished here): About this time some of the 
Government “experts” became ludicrously earnest in their interest in my experiments and 
soon : after secured a large appropriation for the purpose of a study of the Opuntias; agents 
were hurriedly sent in all directions to discover if possible some wild or cultivated. Opuntia 
of agricultural value which was absolutely spineless. All known regions of the earth were 
literally scoured in this vain effort.. No eh plant way aound; ‘Tor mame cetated ‘outgide of 
my own grounds at Santa Rosa. 7 Bee 

The employes of the Department of Agriculture are, with very few exceptions, upright 
and honorable gentlemen with whom | am. on the most friendly terms. Some- 
times, however, one of the “other kind” gets a job. ‘One of the “other kind”. of government 

“experts,” a certain David Griffiths, after visiting my grounds on several occasions, awoke at 
last with a shock and took occasion to publish under the cover of the Department a bullet:n 
(see Bulletin 140) on the “Spineless Prickly Pear. ye its whole end and aim and toe evident 
purpose. being only to deride and belittle the long and very expensive experiments - which” 
had been made here before he or the Department had awakened from. their drowsy indif- - 
ference to the great value of this long neglected gift of nature only awaiting man 'S. develop- 
ment of its latent possibilities as a forage and fruit producer, and. now. promising to- be of | 
as great or even greater value to the human race than the discovery of the practical appli- 
‘cation of steam, ‘producing as several of these new ones do, more food with less eare and less 
water and on poorer soil than any other plant which grows on this: earth, excelling even the 
banana in their never failing bountiful crops. of es. : 


“In the first. place .the spineless cactus. 
was not. discovered by. “Burbank,” said one 
of the officials: of the. Bureau of Plant In-— 
dustry. . ‘It was discovered by mother anh 
long before Burbank was ever heard of.. 
saw it growing in Mexico. many years ago. 

“In the second place the . ‘spineless variety 


GOVERNMENT  eeenaaee 


AND MR. _ 
BURBANK . 


“Tt has reached such a stage that every 
time Burbank announces a new “discovery” 
‘the scientists employed by Uncle Sam shout. 
“nature faker,” and prove conclusively, to © 


their own satisfaction, that what the Cali- . 
fornian has brought forth is not only not- 


new, but that it is worthless from every 


point of view and is unworthy ef space in 


any garden plot in the world, 
_ “Burbank’s “spineless 
: which. he has” lately sold. to a syndicate and 


which is now being heralded as the future 2: 
god food of the arid lands, is. the latest item — 
“thrown down" by. tae. hero! a 


tO be 


ae “experts.” 


cactus,” some of 


. is not as good for the use of the farmers of 
““the arid lands as: the kind. that is provided 


with natural arms for SS BS AIAN its. ene- 
mies.’ veaaNimesen: dD. ae “Post.” 


“EXPERT” CRIBBING METHODS 


“There lies before usa copy ae an Agri- 


cultural - ‘Department Bulletin: ‘treating of the. 
“Spineless - ‘Cactus; 
“pression of seeing a> stage presentation. of 


‘which ‘gives: one the im- 


Hamlet, with nary a melancholy Dane. It 
graciously says that there are ‘a number of 
hursery men who have now on hand‘a stock 
of some varieties of prickly pears and are 
offering the plants for sale, usually under 


the name of Spineless Cactus,” but we fail-to - 


see any reference to Burbank, who has done 
more than all the other agencies combined 
to perfect the plant and bring it to public 
notice. This cribbing of ideas and experi- 
ments without due credit, don’t look good 
to us. Caesar seems to have ill luck in get- 
ting his denarius in the Department; and 
as for the Infinite and Eternal Energy, why, 
bless your soul, 
Washington. they take the 
everything else in the 
Rural Californian. 


denarius and 
shop.”—HEditoriati 


FOLLOWING, NOT LEADING 


“It is announced that the Department of 
Agriculture is preparing to experiment (7?) 
with spineless cactus on. the Government 
Plant Introduction Garden at Chico, Cal. 
This is like ‘bringing coals. to Newcastle.’ 
Within a distance of one hundred miles 
from Chico the problem of spineless cactus 
has been solved, and the utility of the pro- 


duct demonstrated, by Luther Burbank. Just. 


why the Department of Agriculture ignores 
‘the great work of this world’s most famous 
plant scientist is beyond comprehension. It 
would at least appear that the envious sal- 
aried experimenters. at Washington woula 
have sense enough to keep miles and states 
distant from the great successful plant 


transformer and propagator in the pursuit of 


its attempts to do what he has already 
-done.”"—Orchard - and . Farm, . San Pee apelseds 


or Cal. 


= Soy Bulletin: 140, the United ‘Staten Depart- 
ment. of Agriculture has placed . 


plant industries’ of the age. * * * Those 
- who are privileged to know Mr. Burbank 
are forcibly impressed. with © the modesty 
of ‘the man whose creations have had. so 
great a bearing on the agricultural and hor- 
_.ticultural world,’—‘“Irrigation Age,’ Chicago. 


SPINELESS PRICKLY PEARS 


“Bulletin No: 110, just issued by the 
Bureau of Plant Industry’ of the United 
States. is upon the subject of the ‘Spineless 
prickly pear. ‘The bulletin was prepared by 

David Griffiths, — assistant agriculturist. 
. Hither eSNG Ee or through ~ ignorance of 
well known facts, this ‘bulletin. ignores 
Luther Burbank’s: work in removing spines 
from the cacti family, and makes much pre- 


tense that the bureau itself has been suc- - 


cessfully working along lines of discovery. 
As a point-blank snub to the greatest of 
all human producers of new plant © life, 
Griffiths says: ‘The . origin of 
prickly pears is shrouded in as much obscur- 
ity.as that of the cultivated wheat, barley, 


apples or any other crop long cultivated by — 


, 


man,’  Parenthetically.it may here be stated 


that long after the names of 


it is out of the running. In 


itself on 
record as, antagonistic -to-one of the. greatest 


‘science 
caviling by men of such caliber is not likely 
‘Oak- 


‘spineless 


‘tractors. 
to suggest that he needs defense 2 ae 
Dr. Griffiths : 


and the bureau itself are obscured by time, 
the name and fame of Luther Burbank will 
be revered as a benefactor of the human 
race. 

“The entire bulletin shows a labored effort 
to detract from the great developing magic 
with which Mr. Burbank has added  hun- 
dreds of new forms of plant life to the pro- 
ducts of human cultivation. Just why the 
Bureau of Plant Industry of the United 
States should lend itself to the derogation 
of any public benefactor is difficult to un- 
derstand, unless jealousy prompts the course 
of official personages vested with brief ana 
vaunting authority. It 


small business, to say the least.’’—‘Orchard 
and Farm.”’ 
GOVERNMENT EXPERTS AND MR. 


BURBANK, 


“A dispatch from Washington, D. C. says 
that some of the men of the United States 
Department of Agriculture have been speak- 
ing disparagingly of some of Luther Bur- 
bank’s creations. This is not the first time. 
this has been done by them. Some. writers 
in commenting on the matter have ‘said that 
jealousy on the. part: of the department. men 
has prompted ‘their adverse criticism, They 
have gone further and have stated that. aL 


some of the United States experiment sta-_ 


tions experiments have proved unsuccessful 


- which Burbank ats made the greatest kind | 


of a success. 

“The last attack. dacordine to the’ word 
from Washington, is centered upon. 
thornless cactus and its adaptability to the 
arid desert lands.’’—‘“Courier,” 
Calif. 


“There appears to be a consistent attempt 
on the part of some petty officials at Wash- 


ington’ to discredit the discoveries: and the. 
work of Luther Burbank, The claim of Mr. 


in the world sof” 


recogn: ized 


Burbank to distinction 
is so thoroughly 


to detract from his fame.” 


—"Enquirer,” 
land, Cal. B24 Mime 


“Clerks of the Department of ieee 
in Washington have called Luther Burbank 


a nature faker. It is hardly probable that 
Mr. Burbank will stop his valuable labors 
long enough to call them anything.’— 
FLO uStet, Texas. 


“Independent investigators aes win) ‘hide. 


victories in the face of opposition on “the 
part of the government 


Washington, D. C. 


‘BURBANK ASSAILED BY LOT. oF 


LILLIPUTIAN “EXPERTS” ‘ 


“The Star has no brief for the ‘defense of 
Luther Burbank against his_ “expert” . 
It would be a libel on Mr. ‘Burbank — 


crowd of Lilliputs. 


the 


that 


“Post,” : 


scientists.” —Ww. E., 


de-— act 


is an exhibition of - 


i 
<3 a. ; 


Sees Se 


— 


etm i AD 


besides, 


“The United States Department of Agricul. 
ture has done.a monumental work in experi- 
menting, discovering and disseminating val- 
uable information on plant and animal life. 
It has been fortunate in acquiring the ser- 
vices of a few men of eminent talents who 
do things. It has at the same time been un- 
fortunate in annexing alot of impractical, 
narrow-minded laboratory “experts” 
sume to Know more’ about. Nature ana 
natural processes. than Nature has ever 
taught or will ever teach. In fact, they go 
so far ahead of Nature or lag so far behind 
they are unnatural. Their chief employ- 
ment consists in Keeping up around of 
mechanical “duties” in laboratories or hot- 
houses, as far removed from Nature as pos- 
sible; and in clubbing every man who dares 
by his achievements, to dispute the limelight 
with their claims. : 

“For instance the Federal 
“experts,” some of whom would hardly know 
eactus from Canada thistles, if they were to 
see the two growing in the open, unlabeled, 
are assailing Luther Burbank’s_ spineless 
cactus achievement. It is not original, they 
say. They Knew all about its existence be- 
fore Luther Burbank was ever heard of. And, 
it does not amount to anything. 
Cactus without spines is liable to be eaten 
up by jackrabbits, whereas the ordinary cac- 


who as- 


horticultural. 


Mother Nature and sulling the public with 
a let of “discoveries” that these “experts” 
have known all about since the pre-Adamite 
period. ‘ 

“Meanwhile as this. shattering of -Burbank 
preparatory to his annihilation is. going on, 
the public will not be stampeded away from 
him. The practical, levelzheaded masses of 
the American people are old-fashioned 
enough to -believe in a man who sticks so 
close to Nature that he can help her to im- 
prove on herself and bring forth new and 
far better products. If the “experts” at 
Washington, after they get through weigh- 
ing the heels of the thrip, and reckoning the 
stomach capacity of the tobacco worm, suc- 
ceed in wiping Burbank off the face of the 
earth by their invincible text-book logie and 
hot-house “facts,” still the ignorantly blind 
public will be vulgar enough to regard the 
Burbank annihilation as only another sham- 
battle achievement, in which the -annihila- 
tion of armies in theory is alwavs shown to 
be sadly defective when it comes to annihil- 
ating in real fact a real flesh and blood 
army. 

“Burbank Keeps cheerfully on at his» work, 
sleeping well and accomplishing more _ for 
the real advancement of horticulture in a 
week than the censorious “experts” at Wash- 
Their critical 


ington accomplish in a vear. 


tus can be made into fodder by burning off buzzing no more concerns him than _ the 
its spines. Luther Burbank is just. a cheap buzzing of mosquitos disconcerts ~- an 
“nature faker,” wasting . his. time - with elephant.”—Pasadena, Cal. “Star.” 


Tt has been proved (see page 7) that the poorest of the Burbank spineless cactus will re 


_ produce fifteen to one as compared to the best “expert” Government cactus. Is it then sur- 


- prising: that practically all the nations of the earth are anxious to obtain the new ‘Burbank 
Be very careful, however, that you get the Burbank cactus, not 
the half spineless ones so very often sold as the “Burbank” or “just as good as. the ‘Bar 
bank,” ‘such as the builders of the pyramids of Egypt may ae cultivated, which” some of. : 


eaetus as soon as possible? 


the ' “pin-headed experts” at Washington are exploiting. 


~ Many of these so-called “Spineless” Cactus plants are steadily and persistently y bens 


‘puhibet off on the public as. “Burbank’s” or “Ss ust as good as Burbank’s. 


‘These old so-called spineless varieties were well known hundreds of years ago, “and have 
“Twelve 
tons of this ancient trash is being sent out this season, through ignorance or worse, “py the 
We have now ‘on hand some “sixty ‘tons of: these % 
same kinds (used in past years for experiments) which we offer at $3.50 per ton, but do not 
recommend them except to save starving cattle in times of extreme drought; ‘life. ‘is too short : 
also. for unfortunate growers of this prehistoric type to pe constantly under ‘the surgeon's 
knife for the removal of spines, they are dangerous to. handle except with shovels, pitch: 


been growing in California, Mexico, Southern Europe and North ‘Africa ; for- ages. 


United States Department of Agriculture. 


zi forks or very thick leather gloves. 


~The following quotations are from a late magazine article in vindication of has old, wild, > 
The thorns can be, at much trouble and expense, “partially burned $3 
for ‘dry or 


thorny varieties of cactus. 
— off by fire thus making a somewhat dangerous but otherwise good fodder, seepeeially | 
seasons. 


esp acct . i 


“Every old -timer : in Texas: fas -distinet @ of; thousands of cattle and. that over. a “lange: 
‘recollections: ‘of the years. of famine when area of: territory” today” twice as. many cat-" 
; eattle- were ‘kept alive on “prickly” pear. Tae © Yee tle are raised as - would be possible were it” 
x - knows” that “it is sure good feed, ‘that. on not for: prickly péar. growing spontaneously. 
Sexerar occasions: it pas” ‘been the. ‘salvation Bat in. spite of the fact that it has been 


proven to be a_ profitable thing to utilize and the pear of Southern Texas is no excep- 
when growing wild, the idea of planting and tion to the general rule. While it might 
cultivating it, or actually growing it inten- take it five or six years to grow § large 
tionally, is yet a rather novel one.” enough to pay to harvest in the native pas- 
tures, it makes. a big crop in two years when 
cultivated. By actual test it grows eight 
times as fast with good cultivation as it 

“The plants will nearly ~meet (when does. without culivation in grassy pastures.” 
planted eight feet apart) in two season’s 
growth, when it will be impossible to get 
animals and machinery through them in cul- 
tivating The forage, however, need not be 
gathered unless needed for several years 
longer, but simply allowed to grow until the 
time when it is wanted. It will be fully as 
good feed, and, according to some, better five 
years later.” 


“The plant has a bad reputation. It looks 
anything but promising as ‘a stock food.” 


“Tt produces tremendous tonnage; it re- 
quires no irrigation; it is an excellent dairy 
roughage, good roughage for any cattle, and 
ean be used for hogs, chickens, sheep and 
goats. It can be fed in a green succulent 
condition all the year. It has no serious in- 
sect or fungous enemies. One planting is 
good for repeated cuttings. It does not de- 
teriorate with age but can be fed when five 

“The response of this plant to cultivation or six years old to even better advantage 
is phenomenal, We know of no parallel in than when young. It is a certain erop un- 
the history of cultivated crops. The cacti in der conditions which cause other crops to 
general are considered plants of slow growth ‘be a failure.” 


ECONOMIC VALUES OF THESE NEW 
BURBANK OPUNTIAS 


First:.. The leaves or slabs as food for all kinds of stock including poultry. The whole 
plant, both Jeaves and fruit, almost without exception finds immediate favor with all herb- 
iverous animals. Cattle prefer it to almost any other food and it makes a superior quality. 
of beef and exceedingly rich milk, which is not surprising as cactus is one of the very richest 
foods known in sodium, potash and magnesia, the principal salts found in milk. These valu- 
able organic salts are found in the cactus more abundantly than in any other fodder. A And 
there is the further consideration that the cactus supplies the animal almost all the water 
it needs. In Hawaii and Mexico cattle have been known to subsist for six months on a 
cactus. diet without. a drop of water. The often observed fact that animals when fed on 
: cactus. improved in condition more than could be accounted for by the usual chemical an- 

-alyses for food values had been a- matter of much study by. chemists until it was. discov- 
ered by. actual experiment that these organic mineral salts oe in the digestion of. food 
* which would not otherwise have been utilized. ai, Ss es 

- Second: The .fresh . fruit of these improved varieties is. ‘unique in form and anaes ex- 
ceedingly handsome, unusually wholesome, (the large amount of vegetable salts they con- | 
tain being regarded as very beneficial) and far superior to the banana in flavor. It is usa- 
allv sold at the same price per box as oranges and can be produced at less than one-tenth the 


expense of producing oranges, apricots, grapes, plums or peaches. There is never a failure — 


in the crop which can be shipped as safely as the other deciduous fruits. The fruit can be 
gathered and stored” like apples. and will keep in excellent condition from four to five months. 


Samples packed in ordinary packing boxes without ice,. were shipped to CEBEO, ew York, fe = 


Boston and Washington this past season and kept in perfect condition. nig 2 es 
‘Third: Most. delicious jams, jellies, syrups, etc., are made from the fruits alone or 
in combination: with other fruits, besides various foods and confections, such as Tuna honey > 
; (Miel de. Tuna), Tuna butter. (Melcocha) and Tuna cheese (Queso). e 
Opuntias. have been used (even the thorny ones) for making SS ae by the Mex- 
icans and others for a long time. Some of the finest candies of Mexico are Se ai cactus: 
of various forms. Bae ee 
‘Fourth: The fat young. leaves are sometimes used for pickles, and are a fairly good 
and- wholesome food when fried like. eg g-plant.. They are also boiled and used as greens and". 
are prepared with sugar producing ae puetmiber similar to losmctgcionies 3 citron. which andy Pe 
flavored with ginger or other spices. , 


er : - ‘ - “ : <> eats 


Fifth: The abundant mucilaginous juice from the leaves is extracted for mixing with 
whitewash to make it lasting when exposed to the weatuer. For the purpose of obtaining 
this mucilage the leaves are simply cut in thin slices or crushed and placed in water. A 
leaf or two will make a gallon of good, thick, transparent mucilage of superior tenacity. 
When this substance dries slowly, it produces a gum which is hard, brittle, generally white 
or of a pearly color, and not readily dissolved tin water. It should also make a valuable ad- 
dition for giving more tenacity to some of the compounds used in spraying trees and plants 
for parasites. 

Sixth: The leaves are extensively used and most. admirably adapted for namics: and 
as a substitute for hot water bags (the new Burbank absolutely spineless kinds of course 
preferred). 

Seventh: The juice from the fruits of the crimson varieties is used for coloring ices, 
jelly and confectionery; no more beautiful colors can be imagined. 

Highth: The fruits and leaves are sometimes served in various other forms for food . 
by those who are familiar with them. 

Ninth: The cactus also gives great promise as a producer of alcohol and paper pulp. 
and in Australia is now said to be a thorough success in these respects. It is planted at 
Alexandria, Egypt, to prevent the drifting of sand. 

Tenth: Even if the cactus yielded no product of direct utility, yet it would, on account 
of its great growth and rapidity of increase, perform a very distinct function in preventing 
the rain from carrying away superficial layers of soil from barren slopes which the rain 
waters would surely carry to the sea where would be wasted uselessly this most precious 
portion of the earth’s crust, the portion most rich in elements of fertility. Moreover the 
cactus facilitates the penetration of the earth by waters which reappear below in the form 
of springs. It is impossible to repeat too often that, in such countries as Tunis and Al- 
giers, where frequently torrential rains are separated by long seasons of drouth, too great 
effort cannot be made to retain in the ground as much as possible of this water which or- 
dinarily trickles away without benefit to agriculture over the numerous barren slopes. It is 
not necessary to wait until it forms into rivulets before trying to catch it. It is much sooner 
than this, when the water has as yet formed merely liquid threads which the tiniest obstacle 
can divert, that the effort should be made to make it penetrate the soil.. The cactus planted 
on cleared strips, worked out according to the contour of the surface, may be advantasenusty 
employed to this end. 

In Europe, where cactus has been set out by hand labor, the cost is estimated to be. about 
$10. 00 per hectare, (equal to about two American acres). It would not be more than that 
per acre in this country and it is the opinion of Mr. Chas. J. Welch, a man with some ex-_ 
perience in these matters, that in a country where traction engines could . be used - and: 
large tracts set out, the cost would not exceed $5.00 per acre. The initial cost_of land: re 
any case need not be more than $50.00 per acre and a great. deal of land suitable. for the c 
purpose could be secured at a very much cheaper figure. so 

After the first year no cultivation is required. In all $60. 00 would an cover all i 
penses, except the cost of cactus plants, until the pad year when ane. plantation mores be 
in full bearing. 

“On ordinary - land at Santa Rosa the Burbank cactus te Ee close to 100 tons to the ~ 
acre. On land under cultivation near Los Banos, California, it produces fully twice as 
much and there is- some land there that will grow cactus that should produce much more. 
Cactus as forage alone should be worth $4.00 per ton at any time, and in years of drought 
it might well bring as high as $20.00 per ton. In other words, on land at $50. 00 per acre 
cactus should produce a crop worth nearly or quite $400.00 per acre on-the third and every 
succeeding year, thereby ranking it among the very best agriultural. propositions before the 
American farmer today. Because of these possibilities single slabs of the true Burbank > 
variety are now selling for $5.00 each (more or less according to the variety).” 

Cactus plants donot necessarily require rich land. The land need not be either fk or 
agricultural land. Such land as is commonly purchased in the valleys of California at- $50.00. 
per acre should be very satisfactory and even land at $5.00: per acre is feasible. Cactus will 
probably stand as much white alkali as any plant which grows. ess ; 

Fruit land could not be secured and fruit trees set out and cared for. until pearing for 
less ‘than four times as much ($60. 00); the initial cost for. the first year is commonly. es- 
timated at $203.0 00: “per acre; and it would be necessary to. cultivate. it for five-or six years 


before any return could be expected. In this connection it would be well to remember 
that from twelve to twenty years of bearing is the average length of life of most fruit 
orchards, whereas the cactus plant will thrive indefinitely. It might also be well to note that 
whereas a fruit orchard suffers great deteioration if it is not cultivated, pruned and har- 
vested every year, a cactus plantation can grow on for any number of years without the 
slightest care or even harvesting, and suffer no injury, so that in years of depression, if there 
should be no satisfactory price for cactus produce or products, a man need not spend one 
cent on his plantation. 

“About eight or ten inches of rainfall is required for the best cactus culture, although 
cactus will do very well on six inches. It is not necessary that the rainfall should be reg- 
ular, but the precipitation of rain once in four, or even as infrequent as once in ten 
years is sufficient.” 

Alfalfa and all other fodders produce thread-like stems while the cactus plant yields 
Leg, luscious slabs weighing from one to seven pounds each, which can be cut at any time, 
summer or winter whenever needed. 

Cactus can be grown close in along the coast of the United States from the Puget Sound 
country south to San Diego, in the great valleys of California, in a comsiderable part of South- 
ern Arizona, southern New Mexico, Southern Texas, Southern Louisiana and all along the 
Gulf and Atlantic Coast of the United States well up to South Carolina for about one hun- 
dred miles inland, more or less, according to elevation and other factors. In a general way, 
this is the part of the United States best adapted for cactus culture. 

“The Burbank Spineless Cactus will prove especially valuable in feeding dairy ‘eetite as 
it will furnish a succulent feed throughout the entire year, so that an even flow of milk 
can be obtained. When fed with a little cotton-seed meal or other concentrated food er used 
with about fifteen pounds of good alfalfa hay, it will prove the ideal feed by which dairymen 
may obtain the same quantity and quality of milk in January as in June. Even now, the — 
best butter is being made from dairy herds fed on singed wild cactus with only three or: 
four pounds of cotton-seed meal per day or its equivalent; while some of the best beef 
eattle have been fattened on the same rations and sheep, hogs and calves are being DEE 
pared for the market on an exclusive cactus diet.” 

As eattle always follow feed there should be an ever present market for cactus forage 
wherever it is grown. Besides, as the different varieties of cactus mature fruit from Septem- 
“ber to March, they enjoy a season of exceptional shipping advantages. 

“It is-said that wood alcohol can be produced in great quantities by the distillation of 
both the cactus slabs and fruit and the productive capacity of the fruits is in some cases — 
over 196,000 lbs. to the acre. But besides all this, paper stock can be made from the refuse. 
which some experts from the great manufacturing establishments pronounce the very finest 
~ quality for certain expensive papers. This fibre is almost absent in the leaves when ther 
are young and in the best condition for feeding stock, but as the plant grows older the woods” 
fibre increases towards the base which becomes practically solid material. Every ‘part from 
the tip of the- plant to the tip of the longest root is available for this purpose. The fibrous , 
_ paper stock comes out very clean and white with little trouble in preparation. 
dis eee a promising product of this remarkabte fibre.” 


“Luther Burbank, the greatest originator 
Of new and valuable forms of plant life of 
this or any other age.’’—Dr. David Starr- 
Jordan, President Leland Stanford, Jr. Uni- 
versity: 


‘Mr Burbank is a man who does things — 
that. are of much benefit to mankind and we 


Theodore Roosevelt. 


“TI look to great practical résudas from. 


‘Celluloid 


should do all in our power. to nee him.” — - 


“It is ahi honor to Galitortita that Luther 
Burbank is its citizen. He is ail that he has 
ever beeh said to be and more.’—Dr, L. H. 
Bailey, Cornell University, N. ¥ 


“Te stands easily at the head of the world’s 8 
greatest eX¥perimentalists in plant life.’ "= W, 
Atlee Burpee, Philadelphia, Pa 


Burbank’s work Amp RE ae = Ones A. 
Edison 


“No other man has given to torsioutnae so 
many valuable things as. has Luther Bur- | 


bank.”’—Prof. E. J. Wickson, Dean of. Agri- ak 


culture, University of California. 


PART TWO 


DESCRIPTIONS OF 
THE NEW BURBANK OPUNTIAS 


THE KINDS TO CULTIVATE 
FOR FRUIT and as Food for FARM ANIMALS and POULTRY 


BURBANK’S | SPINELESS CACTUS 


3 One Hundred ~ Ninety Six Thousand Pounds of. Delicious Fruit Per ‘Aes 
3 on. this Field 


The’ best of. ee improved ee. Gini when srown andes ftayorable conditions: 

on good soil in a warm climate may confidently be expected to pr oduce an. aver ase. of nearly 
7 or quite one hundred tons of feed per acre when once established, each season. ‘ 

I have no time and- no. desire to introduce these or any other Opuntias, ‘and would gladly 
leave the matter to some one else but so much has been written about them and so many are 
deceived with the old. cheap, half-wild varieties which are so often offered as ‘“Burbank’s’’ or 

“just as good as Burbank’s.” that it seems necessary to have them distributed direct from 


my own grounds and under my own descriptions so as to avoid as much as possible any 
misunderstandings, exagerations or misstatements such as heretofore have been 
carelessly, ignorantly or wilfully made. Utterly spurious “Burbank’s Thornless Cactus” has 
been offered for sale by dishonest parties for five years or more, not only in America, but 
also in Europe, Africa and Australia. 

In producing these new Opuntias more than fifteen years and much thought, labor and 
capital have been expended, thousands of crosses have been made and many hundred thousand 
seedlings and crossbred seedlings raised. The finished product is receiving a royal welcome 
everywhere by those who know. 

Few of the cacti are of any economic value except the Opuntias; of these there are more 
than one hundred and fifty species and innumerable varieties; all probably originally 
natives of the Western Hemisphere and were cultivated by the Indians long before Columbus 
discovered America. No class of plants are more easily grown, soil is not of much sg ih 
ance and cultivation almost or quite unnecessary. 

For the old fruiting Opuntias or Prickly Pears, eighteen thousand pounds of fruit per 
acre is found to be a common cron on the poorest soils, while on good soils the best Burbank 
fruiting varieties will and have produced more than one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of 
delicious fruit per acre. The fruits differ in various ways like apples, plums or peaches. 
By analysis they are found to contain from six to fourteen per cent sugar besides a small 
amount of protein and fat, also aromas and flavors. Some contain more of these, some less; 
all desirable qualities are greatly increased by scientific breeding and selection for this pur- 
pose, as with the applé, peach, sugar beet and other fruits, grains and vegetables. — 

Some of the earlier varieties ripen in June and July, the later ones in August, September, 
October and November and through the winter; Most of them commence bearing about the 
third year from cuttings. 

_ The general practice to prepare the fruit for use is by brushing with a whisk broom or_ : 
rubbing with a coarse cloth, then cutting a thin slice from each end through the skin, then ~ 
slitting from efd to end when the skin may be readily removed, leaving the solid flesh. ready 
for. use. 


SAMPLE FRUITS 


FOR EXTENSIVE PLANTATIONS 


The leaves of these new Giant cactus varieties should be shrunken slightly or wilted at 
least, (except in absolutely dry deserts or in very warm summer weather). Meantime an 
earlier and more rapid growth will be secured by plowing and harrowing the land as for any 
other crop. The cuttings may then be easily and rapidly planted one-third their length 
under ground, either with spade or plow, in deserts slanting towards the position of the two 
o’clock P. M. sun; or they may simply be thrown on the ground and left to themselves; in 
either case they will grow, but in the end it is probably better to plant as above. Three to 
eight feet apart is the best distance for permanent plantations, either for fruit or forage, but 
they may be planted at half these distances and later, three-fourths of the plants removed. 

People who are not acquainted with the cactus often mistake the numerous pointed leaf- 
lets on the undeveloped slabs for spines. These, having no function to perform soon drop 
off. They are as different from spines as blossoms are from leaves. 


— ROBUSTA (Forage and Fruit for Feed) 


& 


A new crossbred cactus which originated 6n my own grounds six years ago. The cut : 
conveys only the slightest idea of its heavy, smooth, compact growth. -The slabs are packed~ 
together so closely as to resemble a solid bale of leaves. Not a leaf has ever shown: a<trace 
o. injury from. sunburn, disease, or damage by frost, even when the mereury went down to 
fourteen degrees above zero. Sak ; 

The thick, heavy, pale green slabs or leaves of Robusta are smooth, medium size, two to 
_ five pounds each. Fruit medium size, abundantly produced, slightly bristly, thick pulpy skin, 


good, but best suited for stock and poultry feeding. Productive of feed beyond hitman im- 
agination, except by the aid of actual, ocular demonstration. The most productive, compact 
eraowing and most valuable cactus for feed so far produced, 


ELDORADO (Fruit) 


The old half-spineless “White Fruit” with several similar - half-spineless- (so-called: 
“spimeless’”’) varieties introduced by John Rock of San Jose some forty years ago and ‘quite. 
generally distributed throughout California and Florida, was one of the best of these old, “s0- 
celled ‘spineless’ varieties. Eldorado originated here on my grounds from this old well- 2 
known stock; the new variety is almost, but not absolutely free from spines, yet far ahead of. 
those ancient varieties in this respect, a very strong grower, hardy and extremely produe- 
tive; but best of all it produces unusually large, very thin skinned fruit of the very best 
quality. The skin, which peels most readily from the fruit is olive green, beautifully shaded i 
with lemon yellow and rose pink. The flesh is of the palest semi-transparent straw yellow 
color, firm and with a rich melon-like flavor and almost seedless. The fruit, which is of an_ 


unusually pleasing form and even size, keeps well, both when left on the plant or picked for: . 
use of shipping. Nothing better so far known for general home use, market or shipping. 


The cut quite accurately shows the form and size of the fruit which usually weighs from 
seven ounces to half a pound each. eke ; 


SPECIAL (Forage) 


Special is of the Tapuna section with round, silvery leaves or slabs, a true “Spineless” 
cactus, not like the ancient “expert” so-called “spineless” ones. No gloves are required to 
handle this kind. The slabs of this variety also are about as smooth as watermelons. The 
long, broad; heavy rows of plants have never shown the trace of a spine, hundreds of people 
have fondled them, rubbing the leaves over hands and face without any discomfort what- 
ever. The silver green slabs average from three to five pounds each. Special also has never 
shown a trace of leaf injury from any cause. The fruits (rarely produced) are nearly glob- 
ular in form, very slightly bristly, and only fitted for the use of domestic animals. 


The plants grow in handsome round topped style in the form of small haystactks and 
side by side produce far more than ten times as much feed as the ordinaary wild kinds. A 
eactus plantation of these new “Burbank” types produces a surprising growth in ami- 
mals and a production of rich, creamy milk, far beyond the comprehension of those yet 
ignorant of their value. 


TITANIA (Forage) 


One of the most remarkable of all known hybrid spineless opuntias. Leaves or siabs, 
light grass green often three to nearly four feet long, eighteen inches. wide and one and 
one-half to three inches thick. These giant leaves first appear as little knobs and in a few 
weeks attain this enormous size a single leaf being abundant feed for asheepfora day or two. 
Nothing like Titania has ever been produced before. 


BANANA (Fruit) 


Same origin as Eldorado; great grower; remarkably resistant to adverse conditions of 
all kinds. Early and abundant bearer of very large handsome lemon yellow fruit with 
c_imson blush, flesh banana color, firm, sweet, unusually good, seeds not abundant; not ab- 
- solutely spineless but far superior to the best es of the parent type. One of the most 

profitable-of all for fruit. ; 


ROYAL (Both Fruit and Forage) 


? 


The old well known so-called “spineless” Anacantna has probably given the best satis- 
faction of any of these ancient, well known kinds: it has, no doubt, been grown for ages in 
all eactus countries. Years ago during my early experiments it was received with others 
from almost every quarter of the globe. The fruit while of the sweetest, was very sparingly pro- - 
duced and late in the season. Royal is the best hybrid seedling of those which 
can at this time be offered from a lot of more than one hundred thousand. 
Royal has large, broad, thick, dark green leaves or slabs much larger and broader 
than its parent, and far less spiny, in fact would be a wonder in_ this re- 
spect if absolutely spineless ones had not lately been produced. The fruit of 
the Royal is very handsome in form, compact, with exceedingly smooth, thin, 
pale yellow skin, mostly covered wtth a crimson blush. Flesh yellow, very few tomato- 
like seeds, sweet and of most superior quality. The thin skin is easily removed and unlike 
most others of this class, is not subject to cracking. Royal is the best of this class in exist- 
ence at the present time, and superior both for fruit and fodder. 


VERTEX (Forage) 


Another new cactus hybrid which has a great future, one selected from among millions 
of hybrids. A tree-like stout, upright grower, with bluish green, thick, heavy, oval leaves, 
one and a half to two feet long and seven to ten inches wide; smooth, wholly free from 
spines or spicules and uninjured by frost, insects, rain, sun, wind, drought or poor soil. 


ARBITER (Forage) 


Remarkable for its vigor of growth and the size and smoothness of its slabs. Sheet iron 
gloves are not required to hamdle its great smooth flat leaves or slabs. One of the very 
best for fodder and will greatly please those who have been obliged to handle the common 
kinds heretofore ponernlly known as “Spineless. Cactus.” Bi 


COMPETENT (Forage) 


A second generation, smooth hybrid seedling, absolutely free from either spines or 
spicules. The leaves which are generally two to three feet long by six to eight inches wide 
and often three inches thick are curiously warted and corrugated when young and as smooth 
as an apple when grown. It has been most amusing during the past three years to observe 
investigators take out their high power magnifiers in the always vain search for something 
in some way resembling a spine. No smooth cactus on my farms has been more admired or 
desired than this one. 


SIGNAL (Forze) 


Another most remarkable cactus from my crossbred seedlings. Leaves long, thick and 
when young with deep corrugations or knobs, later becoming as smooth as a nectarine and 
attaining in some cases a length of more than four feet and a weight of ten to twenty pounds 
each. Impossible yet to estimate the value of this new spineless variety when it becomes 
known and gemerally grown. 


OPALINE (Forage and Fruit) 


Opaline produces abundantly large, oval, pale green slabs fifteen to eighteen inches long 
by five to eight inches wide, averaging in weight about three to five pounds each, no thorns, 
no bristles. The fruit is of medium size, pale yellow and of fine quality, ripens at the usual 
time, September, October and November, but remains in good condition here on the plants 
tnrough the winter until the next year in May. It can be easily handled without any brush- 
ing; no other good “Tuna” fruit so far known can be. 


BUSTER (Forage) 


Very similar to “Competent” and “Signal.” Enormous long, warted or corrugated, pale 
green slabs which are absolutely spineless. No gasoline burners, iron boots or pitchforks are 
needed to handle Buster. 


ACTUAL (Fruit) 


A happy cross of the old Standards, “Anacantha” and “ Smith.” Belongs to the upright | 
growing section and is especially fine. Great producer of large, smooth, thick, light green 


slabs and a profusion of almost seedless fruits which are of good medium size, pale yellow, | 


flushed crimson. Flesh white, sweet, rich and delicious. 


MARKET (Fruit) 


For fruit alone, if one is not disturbed with spines, “Market” a seedling of the old well 
known Smith will greatly please growers. Like the old so-called spineless Smith, the plants 
are unusually robust growers with large, pale green slabs which are annually loaded down 
with brilliant, crimson six to seven ounce fruits of a pleasing compact form and very thin 
easily removed skin; flesh violet crimson, sweet and in every way far in advance of any of 
this fine class except for the short spines such as the “Department” prehistoric, so-called 
“spineless” varieties carry. The fruit also hasthe same old seeds but is produced so ireats that 
it can be recommended as one of the very best of all the half spiny class. 


ee _ NIAGARA (Fru 


“Seedling of the old “Smith,” a so-called spineless cactus introduced to California some 
twenty years ago. The plant and fruit are both somewhat bristly, but not nearly as much so 
as the parent. Niagara never fails to bear at least four to six times as much fruit.as the 
Smith. The fruit, which is of the brightest crimson color igs smoother and more compact, 
larger, with a thinner peel and of far superior quality, flesh crimson throughout. Seeds some- 
what abundant, but its enormous producing ability can and will give it a place even though 
in other respects resembling the prehistoric so-called “spineless” kinds. 


--—  QUILLOTA (Fruit) 


. oo Cross of Anacantha and white fruit. Largs plants with thick oval, light green leaves. 
Fruit. large, handsome, yellow with crimson blush; thin skin which is readily removed; firm, 
pale greenish, almost white flesh; seeds medium to small; flesh sweet, rich, most excellent. 
Unlike other Opuntias it drops at once like apjles when just ripe, thus saving the trouble of 
picking. Fruit ripens from September to April. 


TWO NEW HARDY NORTHERN SPINELESS 
CACTUS 


3 Two plants which required nine years of scientific selection and manipulation to bring 
tiem. to their present condition of a spineless, fast-growing, heavy fruiting condition. Both 
of the pew ones are a combination and selection from the little thorny Opuntia vulgaris of 
New England which is fairly hardy in Alaska, and O. Rafinesquii, of the western plains, 
-peth - san” hardy as oak trees. Therefore both these kinds may be most confidently expected 
“to be. hardy all over the United States, at least. Both literally cover themselves with clear 
deep. yellow flowers in summer and the next spring are covered and.loaded down with bril- 


1s lant: searlet. fruits, one to one and one-half inches long and about three-fourths of an inch 


thick, which when. ripe (weeks before strawberries) are very good to eat, far superior to 
the little thorny fruits of the common kind children are so glad to get in the early spring. 
The Jeaves are deepest green, four to six inches long, three inches wide and half an inch 
3 thick. “These two. kinds, besides bearing. great quantities of good fruit are also (both 
leaves and fruit): highly relished by poultry and stock, but do not yield one-tenth as- much 
‘fodder: as the poorest ‘of the tender giant kinds, yet owing to the constant demand for a 
ane | cactus, have decided to offer them to those who live in climates where the giant kinds 


ELEGANT © 


| as “This: variety bears the largest leaves and fruit. Elegant “forgets. itself” sometimes and 
produces one or two long spines on about every four ee, leaf; the. other. Joe hun- 
dred ue ninety- nine are EEyeless ; 


-BUOU : 


Riou. smaller, otherwise the same, except in “form and’ flavor of its fruit, ‘whieh is fully 
as ; good as that of PIgeaae peas foi serss 


LSet s) 


LINNA NMOUD ATVH ATYVAN JO dOUO HLIM SN.LOVO ANVEYUNA MAN FHL AO SAMOV AAMHL JO MAIA TVILYVd 


OTHER ODD AND CURIOUS FORMS TO BE GROWN 
FOR ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE, FLOWERS 
OR FRUIT 


WOOLY 


A curious Opuntia with wooly leaves, height about four feet, almost wholly spineless. 
prebably not hardy except in mild climates 


OPUNTIA BASILARIS 


Handsome deep crimson flowers, height twelve to fifteen inches 


“QUISCO” (Echinocactus Chilensis) 


‘This is the native name of a South American corrugated, handsome, tall, barrel shaped 
cactus, something like “Visnaga” in appearance, having long handsome, but not vicious 
spines. Blossoms of various colors, said to bear good fruit. 


THE FAVORITE (Echinopsis Mulleri) 


Large, beautiful, delicate, rose-pink flowers in profusion even on small plants. 
The last three easily grown Cactus are as hardy as orange or fig trees 


CEREUS PITAJAYA 


- Pitajaya, (Cereus variabilis) or sometimes classified as Cereus pernambucensis There 
are numerous forms of the Pitajaya cactus both in flower and fruit. The variety offered has 
white flowers nearly eight inches long and like the others blooms in the night; the plants 
are not quite hardy even in most parts of California The variety here offered bears a most 
delicious fruit which is greatly prized by all who know it. 


COMPARATIVE VALUE OF CACTUS 


The following table shows the comparative value of the average cacti, alfalfa hay and 
gamma, a typical range grass, according to analysis made by the Universitv of Arizona, 
Agricultural Experiment Station. erat 

In water-free substance 


Description . Ash Protein Fiber Nitrogen Ether 
es free . extract 

. SS ee extract 
Cactus without fruit ........ Fe ee Sa ee ws 19.91 6.48 190,22 © )-*) -s64.48 1.83 
AA Pall MM SoG oy coe ia a tte ccke ere ey! - 12.74 39.04 41.06 1.49 
1.96 


Gamma grass ....... Speen eka BSE IE | 6.99 30.31 45.63 


WHERE THE CACTUS CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY 
GROWN 


@ 
Hawaii 6 


Colombe 


q 


INDIAN 


| ATLANTI 


OCEAN 


Melbourne 


A , ., sh Punta Arenas 
Straits of z ¥ > 4 
Eee P 


Maps of the Globe with cross lines indicating the northern and southern limits for the 
successful cultivation of the new Giant Burbank Cactus plants for fruit and forage: it 
will be observed that the whole continents of Africa and Australia, most of South America 
and the southern part of North America, Southern Europe and Asia and most of the thou-— 
sands of islands of the seas are included in the territory where they can be grown; even 
this great territory including more than three--fourths of the inhabitable land of the earth is 
being somewhat extended by the production of hardier varieties. This work is progressing 
slowly but very surely. Some slow growing but much hardier varieties are here offered 
which can be profitably grown for poultry feeding; these can be generally grown from two to 
five hundred miles farther north and south of the cross lines on the maps, no other Thorn- 
less Cactus of any name or kind can be until further very extensive experiments have been 
made. These new hardy thornless kinds also produce small brilliant scarlet fruits, of very 
good quality when well ripened, far superior to any of those before known, and in the 
greatest profusion. 3 


ee 


6 


~ - embedded > bundlewise 


Samples from Sunny Lands Beyond 


the Seas 


Professor J. P. Leotsakos says in regard to 
the Cactus: 

“The old somewhat thorny fruiting cactus 
4s in my native country one of the principal 
foods for both opulence and poverty during 
three months of the year when it is abung- 
ant. These pear fruits are delicious, exceed- 
‘ingly nutritious and _ healthful. I would 
rather by far have half a dozen of them for 
breakfast than the best beefsteak or any 
other food. The fruit of these perfected 
Cacti is the best fruit food for man _ or 
beast and Mr. Burbank is a great benefactor 
in perfecting the Cactus. If he lived in 
Greece a monument would be erected to him 
in every city. 


TI have never seen in all the 


world such an astounding crop of fruit 
as I saw on Burbank’s new  varie- 
ties of truly spineless cactus at Santa Rosa, 
California.”’ 

“Prof. J. P. Leotsakos is a graduate of the 
Royal Classical College at Athens anda 
teleiofoitos of the Law Department of the 
University of Athens, and belongs to one of 
the best Known families of contemporary 
Greece. His father was the commander of 
the revolutionary army that brought about 
the deposition of King Otho in 1862, after- 
wards an aide-de-camp to the present King 
George, and finally Senator from Lakonia in 
the Greek Parliament at Athens.” 

—D. N. Botassi, Consul General of Greece. 


FROM INDIA 


ie = z 


: Siexandria, Egypt, “April. 23rd, 1908. 
“The Opuntias growing in this country 
bear very few large thorns but. the small ones, 
in. the flesh of the 
leaves are very numerous and eattle as well 
as camels are. not allowed to feed on these 
plants. _ We want to have quite thornless 
plants as a food for cattle and bearing fruits 
with a large percentage of sugar. 


Please be kind enough to send us offer for 
one or more varieties of plants and the am- 
ount of money we will have to send to vou 
for posting a lot of leaves to. Egynt. — 

His highness the hhedive is keenly- inter- 
ested in the question of your Opuntias and 
will be glad to see’a success of our future 
experiments.” is 


—Charles Chevalier de Blimencron. 


Yomiuri, Shimbun, Ginza, Kiobashiku, To- 
kio, Japan. 

“Allow me to present you with the copies of 
‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ published at our office, by 
the present mail. —*%-.,4% ~% 

I feel it a great honor and pleasure to in- 
form you that your invaluable achievements 
in the discovery of the new process of agri- 
cultural science is highly appreciated by our 
people in Japan as being one of the most 
marvelous discoveries of the present century 
and conferring immense boon upon humanity 
for the augmentation of the food supply of 
the whole world.” 

—J. Motono, per 
Shimbun. 


Director of the Yomiuri 


UNE PLANTE NUISIBLE DEVENUE 
BIENFAISANTE 


“Tout le monde connait Je cactus, aux 
fibres ligneuses, aux spicules aigus. A la 
surface du globe, des millions d’hectares de 
terres arides ne laissent pas croitre autre 
chose que cette plante fatale aux animaux. 
Or, apres dix annees de recherches, Bur- 
bank a transforme le cactus’ si radicale- 
ment gu’il est presque impossible de le re- 
connaitre. 

D’abord le cactus de Burbank n’a plus 
depines; ensuite il peut vivre sous tous les 
climats et en toutes terres; enfin il est co- 
mestible. Cette plante paria, a lage de trois 
ans, peut fournir maintenant 600 livres 
d’une nourriture delicieuse et substantielle, 
alors qu’auparavant ses epines et ses fibres 
etaient une assurance de mort pour l’animal 
qui se risquait a la manger. On voit toutes 
les consequences “ue peut entrainer une 
parielle decouverte! 

Et non seulement le fruit en est Savoureux, 
dun parfum nouveau et etrange gui rappel- 
le en les combinant, ceux d’une demidouzaine 
de fruits: connus, mais la tige ellememe est 
bonne a manger. Le cactus meprisable est 
devenu tout entier un reservoir d’aliments. 


—‘Lectures Pour Tous,’ . Paris, France, 
April, 1909. 
BURBANK’S THORNLESS CACTUS AT 
KIAMUKI 


“Burbank’s thornless cactus is now being 
cultivated at Kiamuki, and plants are being 
taken from there and sent tothe other islands. 
This new form of cactus is growing well and 
there are hopes that it will grow rapidly on 
the other islands, especially in the cattle 
distriets. 

As a food product the cactus appeals. to 
cattle as one of the most attractive foods 
found-in the pasture lands. Even the thorny 
cactus is eaten by them.” 


—'‘Commercial Advertiser,” Honolulu, T. H. 


Dem Botaniker Burbank ist. es gelungen, 
eine stachelfreie Cactusart zu ziehen. Damit 
were ein mittel gewonnen, die odenstenpen 
des westens, die.-von: irrigation nicht er- 
reicht werden konnen, zu vultiviren. Fleisch 


und saft der .pflanze werden von pferden, 
mauicselIn. und rindvieh gern. genossen, nur 
die spissigen stacheln hindern das. Wenn 


der in “den wusten einheimische Cactus dureh 
die meue’ art ‘verdrangt werden kann, wurde 
mansche strecke nach und nach unter cultur 
gebracht werden. : ; 


International Headquarters Salvation Army 
Service, London. E. C. ; 

“IT am so glad to know that you will so 
kindly supply us with your latest varieties 
of absolutely spineless cactus, as I am sure 
this will be most valuable to India. Next to 
human beings the cattle in India suffer ter- 
ribly at the time of famine and scarcity; in 
fact, during two or three months every year 
they are reduced to the point of starvation 


‘during the extremely hot weather, wandering 


about in search of food. Hence I feel sure 
your eactus would be a great boon to them, 
for cactus, as you know, grows freely in alt 


parts of India, only it is of the thorny kind. | 


Wishing you every suecess in your work. 
believe me, 
Yours. very sincerely, 
é F. Booth Tucker.” 
Consulado General de Mexico, 
San Francisco, Cal. 
Hon. Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa Cal. 
Honored Sir: I beg to offer you my pro- 
found acknowledgements for your _ Kindest 


authorization to have your announcement of +. 


the spineless cacti translated into ‘Spanish By 
- Professor Luis A. Beauregard, Director. Gen- 


eral of Public Instruction of 
Mexico. 
I have sent to the professor a textual copy 
of your honored Ietter. 
I have sir the honor to be 
Your most obedient servant, 


P. Ornelas. — 


Camp ech e, 


Imperial Russian Consulate, 
-San Francisco, Cal. 
Luther Burbank, Esq., Santa Rosa, Cal. 

Dear Sir: It is generally — known that 
scientific societies, both public and private, 
as well as the world at large, are greatly in- 
terested in your work of. research, Lately 
the Imperial Russian Department. or Agri- 
culture has turned its attention to your cul- 
tivation of the Thornless Cactus, 

I have the honor to be 

Your truly, — eo NE 
: Se S oot 


cy oe 


THaicakeates Ranch, : 


Makawao, ‘Mani, T. H., April 27,1905. |. 3 


Editor Butchers’ and Stock Growers’. ‘Journal: 


I read with much interest in your issue ARE 5: 


the 30th res the: JaEe: on- “Gdetus 
Beef.’’ 5 
On this ranch we Pee one 


with eactus or prickly pear; there is also” a 


paddock ot 2 
twelve hundred acres. covered very ‘thickly ~ ct ae 


slight growth of Bermuda grass growing, 3 In 2 


this paddock are pastured all the year round, 


four hundred head of cattle and about seven ts 


hundred hogs. The cattle only get | 
when it rains, that is, during the ‘months. or” 


they subsist entirely and solelv on the fruit | 


and young leaves. of the cactus which - they a 


help themselves to. It is a remarkable . fact - 
that during the dry months. of the. year,- we’ 
get more fat cattle per cent ‘from. that. ‘pads 
dock than from any of the others. : 


I consider cattle fed on cactus like ‘thesé Se 


are, to have as fine flavored: beef as- any. = a 


have tasted in San Francisco or ‘New: Zealand. 


water | Es 


“December and January; the other ten months ~ a 


es. 


- 


PR MSA 


AN: AUSTRALIAN VIEW 
on Cactus Where Severe Droughts Have Caused the Death of 
Many Millions of Sheep and Other Stock 


PARTIAL VIEW OF A BED OF YOUNG SEEDLING BURBANK OPUNTIAS 
oa More than One Million Plants Are Growing in the Seed Beds for Trial 


Though the wild cactus is generally prepared for stock by singeing the thorns with 
Cre, yet this never destroys the numerous bundles cf innumerable needles imbedded in the 
leaves and cannot always remove all of the larger thorns even. Those who have fed the 
wild cactus extensively acknowledge that catttle are often seen with blood dripping from 
their mouths, and that their throats and tongues become at last inflamed, very painful and 
hard like a piece of sole leather. How would you enjoy being fed on needles, fish-hooks, 
toothpicks, barbed wire fence, nettles and chestnut burrs? The wild, thorny cactus is and 
always must be more or less of a pest. Millions of cattle, sheep, goats. hogs. ostriches 
and other animals have been destroyed by it. The new thornless ones will withstand flood, 
drought, heat, wind and poor soil better than the wild ones and will produce one hundred 
tons of good food where the average wild one; will produce ten ton of pure food. 


CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AND GEOGRAPHICAL 
DISTRIBUTION 


These Opuntias differ astonishingly in hardiness. Some strains of the common prickly. 
pear (Opuntias vulgaris) will grow readily in Alaska and several of the thorny species will 
endure forty degrees below zero without injury. The best agricultural and horticultural | 
species and varieties are not quite as hardy as the fig, yet are more so than the orange | 
lemon, or lime. Old plants are very much hardier than the young, soft. ones. “The 
Tapuna strain seem to be almost as hardy- as the fig and will’ withstand _ moisture ~ better: 
than most of the others. : . 


OF EASY CULTURE AND RAPID GROWTH” 
ALWAYS GROWN FROM CUTTINGS, NEVER BY SEEDS 


ts 


- 


Everybody knows that Baldwin apples, Bartlett pears and our fates joaches, OS hit : 


and cherries cannot be raised from seeds; just the same laws hold true with the rept gr 
Opuntias, but fortunately they can be raised from cuttings in any quantity with the utmost 
ease—more truly they raise themselves, for when broken from the parent plant, the cut- a 
tings attend to rooting without further attention, whether planted right - ‘end. up, bottom ne. 
up, sideways or not at all. Best results are generally secured by planting. the lower half 

of the ee below the surface of well prewar soil. a ring 6 She aaa 


WHERE TO PLANT. 


Plant wherever you wish to have them grow, on rich level land: or: Pee: ‘steepest: parent 
rocky hillsides, old river beds or rock piles, but their growth and succulence are. greatly 
increased by good soil, some culture and in Very dry soils by one or two light irrigations — 
each summer. By such treatment the fruit is greatly increased in size and quality, and. the 
slabs for feeding are doubled in weight and succulence. Nothing: responds mere promptly 
to fairly good treatment. They will flourish ateet anywhere except where it is” ae wet 
for anything else to grow. pe eee 


WHEN TO PLANT _— (| es : 


Unlike other plants Opuntias root best during the heat of summer, and this is ee time 
also to transplant them. They should not be moved at other seasons. No one “who. oe é 
familiar with them would undertake to root or transplant them during cold damp. weather | 
such aS would be best for other trees and plants. During May, June, July, August. and: Sep- ae 
tember they will thrive under almost any treatment; the leaves, blossoms, buds, half-grown Kis 
fruits or. any part of the plant will make roots and grow, often even under the Bont: Bes 
circumstances. eae . 


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Significant Words, New Uses, Etc. 


THE GENTLE REMINDER BY THE ROADSIDE 


No one could be 
grounds but over six thousand visitors were 
portant experimental work 
from daylight to ten 
stroyed, rare 


more 


plants died from 
matters, letters neglected, telegrams 
health at the point of destruction visitors 
owh convenience, each one being under 
she was the one particular one who should 
sary to place this notice at every gate: 


POSITIVELY 


pleased to welcome 
received during the 
was delayed beyond recall, 
o'clock at night, no rest even on Sundays or holidays; 
want of care; attention constantly drawn from legitimate 
delayed; 


the fixed and unalterable 
be admitted. 


the general public to my experiment 
year 1904. Alf the im- 
overrun with crowds 


‘business de- 


grounds 


meals taken standing, sleep disturbed. 
ealling at all hours without regard to my 
impression that he or 
It has been found to be. neces- 


NO VISITORS ALLOWED 


f 
7 


The general public has no moral, 
vate office or laboratories. 


legal or 


“Luther Burbank is so interesting a sub- 
jeet to the general public that his personal 
friends have had to take active measures to 
save him from his admirers. Not only do 
people flood him with questions by mail, but 
a large proportion of the visitors to the 
Pacifie Coast do not think their duty done 


NEW USES FOR CACTUS 


“While a distinguished citizen of Santa 
Rosa has made over the cactus into a valu- 
able edible plant, an Englishman in South 
Africa has found several new uses to which 
the old-fashioned cactus may be put with- 
out dehorning. This man is British Consul 
Garrels, who represents King Edward’s gov- 
ernment at Zanzibar in East Africa, which 
has as much cactus as the American desert. 
At his suggestion after his own experiments, 
paper manufacturers in Port Elizabeth have 
undertaken to turn the cactus fiibre into 
paper, and their success is Said to be un- 
qualified. If this account is correct, there 
heed be no more uneasiness about’ the 
world's paper supply; there is enough 
prickly pear and other cactus growing now 
to run all the newspapers in the world for 
several decades, and before the visible sup- 
ply is exhausted many times that much more 
can be grown if it is needed. 

“But Mr. Garrels goes even further than 
the paper mill when he takes his cactus to 
market. What the paper mill does not want 
he will put to other uses. He says the cac- 
tus iS Suitable for the production of soap, 
of alcohol, linoleum, sugar, unbreakable uten- 
sils such as haskets, pails basins and the 


like, and last but not least important, for 
the making of a_ suitable substitute for 
leather, which is as good as the real leather. 


“There appears to be no reason to disbe- 
lieve the Englishman's hopeful prophecies. 
And in this connection it. may be remarked 


other right to invade 


my grounds, home, pri- 


without stopping off at Santa Rosa te have 
a chat with the originator of the- spineless 
cactus: As a result, Mr. Burbank 4s- not- ‘at 
home’ to the public, and his approaches are 
guarded rather more effectually, if anything. 
than those to the President of the United 
States.”—‘‘Washington (D.C.) Herald.” bara 


that the present generation is using many a 
things that our ancestors regarded as use= 
less. Tomatoes were long believed to be 
poisonous. For several centuries, -men ~ 
handled oysters but could find no better use 
for them than to burn them for the sake of 
the lime in the shells. 
century or two, we learn that the first” man 
who burned coal in England was laughed at 
and called a liar and a fool, when he tola 
his neighbors he had found “black rocks that 

would burn.”—‘‘Press Democrat.” Santa Rosa, © 
Cal. eee 


NEW USE FOR SPINELESS cAcTUs 


“Paper of fine quality can be made from 
the fibre inside leaf of the Burbank Spineless. 
Cactus. While little has been. said about 
this fact, it has nevertheless received, “ana 


is receiving the attention of some of. the <2 


large paper manufacturers of the country, 2 
number of whom have been in communica- 
tion with Mr. Burbank on the gti 
“Courier.” Petaluma, Calif. a 


“EXTERMINATION OF MOSQUITOES BY 
CACTUS PASTE 


“Consul William Henry Bishop of Palermo. 
Italy, transmits the following information 
relative to experiments made by the chief of 
the sanitary service at Gaboon, French Afri- 
ca, with the cactus as a substitute for pe- 
troleum for the extermination of mosquitoes 
in warm climates. 


And? going back Sees. 


warm 


“mucilaginous 


“The thick pulpy leaves of the cactus, cut 
up in pieces, are thrown into water and 
macerated until a sticky paste is formed. This 
paste is spread upon the surface of stagnant 
water, and forms an isolating layer which 
prevents the larvae of the mosauitoes from 
coming to the top to breathe and destroys 
them through asphyxiation. It is true that 
petroleum can do the same service, but in 
climates petroleum evaporates too 
“and is thus. of dJittle -avail:.. The 
cactus. paste. on the con- 
trary, can hold its place indefinitely, last- 
ing weeks, months, or even an entire year; 
and the period of development of the larvae 
being but about a fortnight it has the most 
thorough effect.”—‘‘Scientific American.” 


quickly 


CACTUS ALCOHOL 


“Tt is not yet determined by experimenters 
if all the 10 per cent carbohydrates in ecac- 
‘tus are available for making into alcohol. 


-but it is ascertained that in the vicinity of 


. San 


Antonio, Tex., cactus can 
every three years, ‘giving about 73,000 pounds 
per acre—and California. can do quite as 
well—and if all of the carbohydrates in this 
amount were fermentable, it would give 360 
pounds or about 521 gallons of alcohol, which 


be harvested 


at 40 cents a gallon would be worth $298.40 
as against $32.25 the sum that can be obtain- 
ed from corn. 


Cut this in one half and it 
would be a marked advance over the produc- 
“tion of corn. Then 


more agreeable and the yild under cultivation 


much in excess of the wild as given in the 


City of San Diego does most heartily 


prised te learn this fact, 


figures above as computed by R. E. Hare of 
the Mexican Experimental Station.” 


_“Aecording to official analysis,” said 
Dr. Houghten yesterday, speaking of the 
commercial possibilities of the cacti, ‘‘the 


-Spineless varieties show a percentage of 
You will be sur-. 
as were also. the. 


nutriment next te alfalfa. 


officials of the railroad. If the millions or 
-acres. of. desert in the Southwest, now cot:- 
sidered as So much waste for want of water 
could be made te raise alfalfa, of course no- 


body would hesitate a moment about getting 


busy in that direction, for it would mean 


millions of dollars to the railroads of this 


part of America and millions of dollars to 
the producers.”’—Riverside (Cal.) Press. 
“That the Chamber of Commerce of the 
en- 
dorse the efforts to spread the new Burbank 
fodder, thornless Cactus, throughout the 


Southwest, thereby rendering highly produc- 


“te aoe states that cactus - fiber 
"e the. equal of asbestos but possesses.a 


tive vast areas of arid and semi-arid lands, 
and thus still further demonstrating the ag- 
ricultural importance of this section of the 
country 
‘Chamber of Commerce. 


CACTUS FIBER FOR BRAKE LINING 
TESTED . 


“During the past year J.D, ewes has 
tested various. brake- lining materials and 
is not only 
>num- 


if the spineless cactus - 3 
were used the handling would be so much ~~ 


engines of all kinds, and 


“which 


."—Resolution adopted by San Diego — 


makes it highly de- 
purpose.” 


ber of qualities which 
sirable for the new 
Motor Age.” 


—"'‘Chicago 


BURBANK CACTUS IS A GOOD FODDER 


“Berkeley, Feb. 8.—Experiments just com- 
pleted by M. E. Jaffa, head of the depart- 
ment of nutrition and foods at the Universi- 
ty show that the new species of thornless 
cactus has properties as fodder for cattle 
which will equal many of the desert grasses. 
The tests were made at the request of Lu- 
ther Burbank, the originator of the new 
Species of plant, and have proved to the full 
the great importance of the new plant as a 
fodder for cattle in the waste lands. Profes- 
sor Jaffa’s report on the experiment has just 
been completed and will be forwarded to 
Burbank in a few days. 

“A short time ago five species of the plant 
were sent to the agricultural station here to 
determine the food value. The series of ex- 
periments carried on by Prof. Jaffa show 
that the new plant carries nutritive powers 
which equal three-quarters of that of alfal- 
fa.’—''The Berkeley (Cal.) Independent.” 


“The demand for Ethyl alcohol for indus- 
trial uses is expected to be very large, now 


that the heavy internal revenue tax has 
been removed on that product when made 
unfit for drinking purposes by the aa- 
dition of a little methyl or wood. al- 
eohol and pbenzine. This denatured al- 
eohol, as it is termed, may be used 


for fuel purposes and for lighting, as in 
Europe. It serves to run automobiles and 
in the manufac. 
has a hundred uses. The extent to 
it may be employed in this country 
will depend largely on the cest of making 
it as compared with gasoline, and estimates 
are current that under the requirements im- 
posed by Congress it can scarcely be 
tailed at less than 40 cents a gallon. 
“Ethyl alcohol may be made from many 
substances, and one of them is the common 
eactus of the deserts. A bulletin issued by 
the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment 
Station gives some interesting particulars 
in this regard. It relates the experience of 
a man in New Mexico who cultivated cactus: 
for a number of years, to see what results 
could be had. He estimated that if the 
plant were cultivated on 1000 acres without 
harvesting for three years, 100 tens could 
be obtained indefinitely from that area every 
day in the year, making 73,000 pounds per 
acre annually. : 2 

“That the millions of acres of desert land 
overgrown with cactus may be made a source 
of large revenue seems almost. incredible. 
but stranger things have happened. Unless 
Burbank be badly mistaken the spineless 
cactus is destined to become one of the most 
useful of plants, furnishing abundance of 
food for man and beast in régions which 
have been regarded as” too sterile and deso- 
late for any form of stock-raising or farm- 


tures 


Fe> 


ing. And the profitable conversion of the 
-e¢ommon form of the plant into alcohol seems 
even. better assured.’—‘“The Sacramento 
(Calyi-Bee.7: : eee 


SUGAR FROM PRICKLY PEAR 


At the instance of the Queensland Govern-~ 
ment experiments have been made with 
prickly pear for the extraction of sugar, and 
it is claimed that two tons of prickly pear 
yield as much sugar as three tons of sugar 
cane and of an equally good quality.—Ameri- 
ean Review of Tropical Agriculture, Mexico 
City, Mexico. 


We believe that Americans will acquire a 
liking for this fruit more readily than they 
do for tropical and sub-tropical fruits in 
general.—From Bulletin Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station, New Mexico. 


“An effort was made, however, to give the 
cattle all the pear they would eat. As nearly 
as can be estimated, therefore, 80 acres of 
excellent pear furnished a full ration for an 
average of 800 head of cattle for a period of 
six months.” 


NEW PLANT FOR FORAGE 


That Spineless Cactus is a Suecess Has 


Been Proven at Yuma 


The growing of Spineless Cactus is no 
longer a desert dream, or the figment of the 
imagination. This desert wonder is being 
grown in the cesert lands adjacent to Yuma 


STILL ON | a: 
This Is Only the First Chapter in the History of the Spineless Cactus — 


and some surprisingly good results are being 
obtained.—“Times,” Bouse, Arizona. : 


Is man also to redeem the desert for civil- 
ization? ‘The French will test Burbanks’ 
spineless cactus on Sahara and the desert 
island of Mayotte, off Madagascar, and the 
English and Germans will try its virtues: in 
their South African possessions. Burbank’s 
creation is declared to be palatable not only 
to cattle, but to man, and it thrives on areas 
that are hopelessly arid, provided there he 
plenty of heat and light. It would be an al- 
most crowning achievement if, by his genius, 
man, after these thousands of years were able 
to announce the doom of the desert.—‘Jour- 
nal,’ Portland, Ore. 


RESTORING THE LAND 


There is every prospect that before the — 


life’s work of Luther Burbank has ended he 
will have seen thousands of square miles of 


desert lands of the world trained to a profit-_ 
able condition of fertility through the medium 
of his spineless cactus, The. British govern-~ _— oe: 


ment is considering the feasibility of intro- 
ducing Mr. Burbank's hybrid plant in ‘the 
Sahara. desert, with a view of eventually 


forcing the most unprolific district in the 
world to support life.—“Register-Leader,” Des 


Moines, Iowa. 


a 


DECK 


a, *. 9a A 


i 


2 ASP gh ial The: cide. e “hese new. “iio inane aariae teas important to the world as the dis- 
i ae “eevery of anew continents ‘Judge S. F. Lk, San jose. Cal. 


ae Nt hae ed | 5 has been called a “vegetable that grows fruit.’ ’ 


ate Se cate be safely aaa without fear of contradiction that the prophesies of Luther Burbank 
> fegarding Spineless Cactus is now being fully realized-- and*that it is now taking its place at the 

‘head of all forage plants as a stock and dairy féed in our Western arid and semi-arid States, as well 
ac ‘poultry feed and a luscious fruit for our tables second to none. 


3S ee et Iti is being grown in quite large plantings now—-one near San Francisco, that is claimed to pay 
$800 per acre for the fruit alone. The fruit commands lOc per lb. wholesale, and produces more 
a the: second year than any apple or peach orchard ever will.” 


mee a poultry food it is unsurpassed. Poultry will leave alfalfa, lettuce and other green food 
for’ ‘cactus leaves.” 


a fe et SV @Re ickiner poultrymen and lovers of fruit are missing a golden opportunity if you do not 
Be plant all you can of them.” 


ve eo Vsther Burbank’s discovery indicates the last act in the drama which is to écivels transform 
“the desert as a barner to man’s energy.” “Star,” Pasadena, Cal. 


es = ae 2) &“Luuther ‘Burbank hits done no higher work in the cause of humanity than his experiments with 

: “the cactus, and a great. world urges on those who would take up the propagation, with the hope 

ber that they” we be as action to finishing the task as the silent wizard was in performing the heaviest duty. 
Fe eS a soe vets Fe Portland Oregonian.” 


= = REE ‘MONTH'S rps OF BURBANK CACTUS LEAF IN FLORIDA 
. - No Caet 4 at 


» ae. jet “as FA 4 
| a ee be a 
‘a> re hs (Sey 
- + “ sz 4 ~ , 
oo lum - - tie 4 : r ; 
< 7 * ‘ ; . .* 2s a 
= seid Sr RREene a arcrenaaineee ee eae eae eee ee a Snare 
if ‘ 4 * od . 4 7 re ha 
u > iv « 
A, ; =. ; | TEE FR % 
- A - 4 “¥ 4 } ‘ : 
- ¥ » \ = 4 sant 
Py; o mo Jas. . 


Mr Bur banks is pat ioe ‘hie a ise Sienna 
ing from his hortiewherat laboratceant Santee ‘RosePare tak 
by these engaged in up-t0-date plant shaw ine: Peledega 

“At 4s. -theconviction of thé writer tharin-no homelo ‘hie’ it Qt em 
PP ae > 
there any one being. who is exercising a more potent infgEM for th 


Pesta An fe J Sate. oe 

és / ihe SAR ee tik Ae | Pe 

ei A ere Sea a 2 

his face than’ Luther Burbank.’ For in his work he is guided by es”. He 


“on hy 
, 
fa 


7 


re 


+) 4 
principle of benevolence. the training of each individual aes peermedia ne 
Roctiag Mane: AS ‘Ope my 


ai. 


| “OTHER SAMPLE. RES > 
- Varieties IN , Mentioned in Fie List 


"AGRICULTURE 2 iF ee Ay Pees 


MiewWead: ee as any ie hs Sie &. ones eae prop porte 
Where ws no’ bdsiness4n Riss world that ists, iMpo as agneulure, = The eS 
is nione..that beginsaS: ‘compare with thigein she i invested. capil abgtir 28H: 

bite billions of datlars tn the: Ghited: Sidtes None’ Awhich can compare =e ie eed : 
ia--totad: pkOduction of: Wealth: Which WAS. about seven ang DME: 733 Sethi Vici = 


diary a O08. mF pe cucanonal Review, ek Sei ie 
pie far cana: youre