Mar. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.SM. 197 



In Press Bulletin No. 121 of the New Mexico (a pear State) College of 

 Agriculture, Mr. R. F. Hare, a well-known authority, writes (under date 

 24th December, 1906) on " Cactus as a source of industrial alcohol." He 

 concludes with the following paragraphs : — 



It may be that the fruits of the prickly pear will be found better suited to the 

 manufacture of alcohol than the stems, if the yield per acre be found sufficiently large to 

 warrant their production. We have fourid that some varieties of this fruit contain 

 10 to 12 per cent, sugar, all of which is easily and readily converted into alcohol,, 

 without the previous malt or acid treatment necessary to produce alcohol from starchy 

 substances. 



It would therefore seem to us that, from our jjresent knowledge of the subject, the 

 manufacture of industrial alcohol from cactus can reasonably be considered within the 

 range of possibilities. 



Next in order of date in the papers before me is a paper circulated in the 

 Australian press, purporting to record the work of Mr. K. M. Gibson, B.Sc, 

 a Brisbane chemist ; the Sydney Daily Telegraph, for example, has half a 

 column in its issue of 11th February, 1908. This nebulous gentleman " sees 

 in this despised plant commercial possibilities quite alluring, and calculated 

 rather to encourage its cultivation rather than its ruthless destruction." 



Mr. E. Harris (this Gazette, March, 1909, p. 237), in a thoughtful article 

 urging that the uses of this plant be further inculcated, at p. 245 says : " The 

 Brisbane chemist was unknown to the Department (of Agriculture, Queens- 

 land), and the Postal Department also failed to locate him." This is by na 

 means the only occasion n which an untraceable person under an alias, or 

 assuming a University degree, has amused himself by posing as a scientific 

 man. 



Following are some of "' Mr. Gibson's " statements : — 



" From experiments that I have carried out I have obtained from the prickly pear » 

 white spirit in quality equal to the best obtainable in the Commonwealth, and sold in 

 Brisbane at 32s. 6d. per gallon. The cost of production would not exceed 3s. 6d. per 

 gallon." 



A by-product of the spirit manufacture is " a most nutritious feed-cake for horses 

 and cattle, at a cost not exceeding £3 lOs. per ton. The present cost of feed-cake in this 

 State is £7 10s. per ton. " 



" In the manufacture of paper an excellent strawboard can be obtained," and other 

 statements are made concerning the valuable fibre to be obtained from prickly pear. 



" Last, but not least, it makes an excellent sugar, equal to any sugar-cane grown in 

 Queensland. The sugar properties contained under treatment of 2 tons of prickly pear 

 are equal to 3 tons of sugar-cane." 



This is the biggest practical joke, purporting to be scientific, that I 

 remember in regard to plants in Australia for many years. We hear of 

 pseudo-scientific reports as regards mines more frequently, but the mischief 

 of this report is that it unsettled our people, while it found its way into 

 journals in various parts of the world as sober fact, based on Australian 

 experience. The prickly pear pest is quite serious enough without the 

 complications that arise from the vagaries of the practical joker. The 

 British South African Export Gazette of 2nd October, 1908, propagated 

 this statement of the alleged Brisbane chemist in regard to the fibre 

 paragraphs. 



