764 Journal of Agriculture . [10 Dec, 1909. 



regarding it, and practical tests, which are still being continued, are 

 placing that knowledge on a sound foundation. And it is to practical 

 men who, by virtue of their profession or business, have applied themselves 

 to the investigation of the plant, and not mere theorists and book students,. 

 that we must look for sound information. It is not a matter of personal 

 interest or gain to myself, my sole object being to try and assist Australia 

 in making her arid wastes economically useful, and preventing the de- 

 plorable loss of stock caused by the droughts, which periodicalh' afflict 

 portions of this continent. 



It was while passing through Quii-er.sland in January last on m!y way 

 to attend the Dry-Farming Congress at 'Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A., that 

 some leading men asked me to make inquiries into the Pricklv Pear, which 

 had been allowed to overrun and impair so much land in that State, and 

 for the eradication of which a reward is offered, and land granted on 

 merely nominal terms. In pursuance of this request, and at my own 

 charges, I visited California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and had com- 

 munications, oral or written, with most of the authorities who had been 

 studying this question and dealing with it. The result of my investiga- 

 tions, I shall, in the briefest possible manner, submit. 



But first it may be well to dispose of the mythical statement that 

 Luther Burbank, the wonderful plant scientist, claims to be the discoverer, 

 inventor, or creator, of the spineless Prickly Pear. Such an idea can only 

 be entertained by those knowing nothing of the subject. Mexico is the 

 most important Prickly Pear country in the world, and the plant is so 

 valued there that it is emblazoned upon the coat of arms of that Republic. 

 There is " spineless " Prickly Pear found in parts of California, Arizona, 

 Texas and Florida. Since this plant began to attract the attention of the 

 scientists of the Department of Agriculture, which is within *he past six 

 vears, 25 of the "spineless" varieties have been imported by the 

 Plant Bureau of the Department. These have come from Mexico, the 

 European. Asiatic and African shores of the Mediterranean, the Hawaiian 

 Islands, South America, while they are known to grow in South Africa, 

 Australia, and some of the Pacific Islands. What Luther Burbank did, 

 was to take the spiny and spineless pears ; and after twelve years*^ 

 experimentation, by cross-breeding, fertilization, and pollenization, he has 

 combined the valuable attributes of the plant and eliminated the bad ones, 

 until he has produced a plant free from spines and spicules, bearing a 

 delicious fruit, and yielding about 100 tons of stock food to the acre. 

 I have seen the plants and tasted the fruit, and in years to come genera- 

 tions will rise and bless the name of the man who, by reason of his dis- 

 coveries, robbed the arid places of some of their terrors, and helped to 

 make the desert fit for the habitation of man and beast. 



The attention of the Department of Agriculture, U.S.A., was drawn 

 to the necessitv of investigating the cactus pl.mt some six years ago, and 

 Dr. David Griffiths, the Assistant Agrostologist in charge of Range In- 

 vestigations, has, in conjunction with Professors Hare, Wooton, and 

 Mitchell, of the New Mexico Experiment Station, Messrs. William and 

 Alexander Sinclair of San Antonio, Texas, and others, been devoting most 

 of his time to this work. The results ascertained are set out in Bulletins 

 Nos. 60 (1906) and 64 (1907) of the New Mexico College of Agriculture. 

 and the following Bulletins of the L'nited States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Nos. 74 (1905), 91 (1906), 102, and 116 (1907), 124 (1908), and 

 140 (1909). These Bulletins run from 16 to 120 pages and are de- 

 voted entirely to the consideration of the Prickly Pear and other cacti, to 

 ascertain the uses they can be put to for m:ar, and beast. There are others 

 issued bv the Department, which I have not seen, as well as some from 



