lOO THE PLANT WORLD 



way, not being a scientist nor a chemist, and unfamiliar with 

 their methods. I boiled the fiber with mesquite bark and 

 burnt rags to tan arid color it. ' I secured the color but the 

 fiber did not tan. I soaked it in oil; I used aluminum pal- 

 mitate, tannic acid, gum arable, caoutchouc, and I used .glue, 

 but none of these gave results. But, late one night soon 

 after, I went to bed and slept the sleep of contentment, 

 with a piece of perfect leather made fforri cactus fiber in my 

 hand. I used water and glycerine, about twenty-five per 

 cent of the latter. All these things, after onfe knows them, 

 are as simple as spreading butter on bread. But, of course^ 

 it's the finding out that's so difficult. 



After I learned how simple it was to make the cactus 

 leather, I then experimented to discover the best methods 

 of cutting and drying. On account of the large proportion 

 of water contained in a bisnaga or sahuaro, the thickness 

 of the fiber reduces remarkably during the drying process. 

 If the fiber is cut one-half inch thick it reduces to about one- 

 sixteenth of an inch in thickness; yet, one cannot cut the 

 sheets so thin that there is not a film of leather left when 

 the fiber is dry. 



The final finish depends on the manner in which 

 the cut has been made, with knife or saw, as well as the 

 direction of the cut. The grain of a sahuaro or bisnaga runs 

 crosswise the cactus, or, more properly speaking, it runs 

 from the heart of the cactus to the outer edge, with rows of 

 tougher fiber extending to the center of each corrugation 

 that forms the support for thousands of needle-like spines. 



Leather made from a cross-grain cut is not so strong 

 as that made from fiber cut with the grain. The width and 

 length of a sheet of cactus leather need be limited only to 

 the length and diameter of the cactus, and the facilities for 

 cutting. 



If a circumferential cut is made (as one would peel an 

 apple) from twenty to forty feet in length of fiber may be 

 obtained from cacti of the larger growths. In making the 



