THE PRICKLY PEAR. 



( Opuntia vulgaris. ) 



The useful is not always beautiful, 

 and there is semetimes in plants a com- 

 bination of utility and harmfulness. A 

 common variety of the North American 

 Prickly Pear which may be classed in 

 this category belongs to one of the most 

 prominent species of cacti, and is found 

 in various parts of our country. It at- 

 tains its greatest growth in Western 

 Texas and in certain parts of Mexico, 

 matting vast stretches of land, and woe 

 to the traveler who finds it necessary to 

 wind his way through these thorny 

 beds. 



The plant is irregular in form, having 

 somewhat the appearance of green 

 plates ellipitical in shape, jointed one 

 upon the other, and both sides covered 

 with long greenish thorns. It varies in 

 height, sometimes growing as high as 

 six feet. It is one of the few varieties 

 of the cactus useful as food, and the in- 

 experienced will be puzzled to think 

 how this thorny plant can be acceptable 

 as an article of food for either man or 

 beast. 



In cattle regions it is gathered and 

 stacked in huge piles, and a familiar 

 sight during the fall and winter months 

 is a fire in which the plants are held for 

 a moment, thereby burning off the 

 thorns and leaving: the fleshv cake a 



most nutritious and enjoyable diet for 

 cattle. This work has been facilitated 

 in some localities by a machine which 

 is used to burn the thorns on the plants 

 as they stand. 



The plant contains a liquid which 

 doubles its value wherever a scarcity of 

 water exists. The shepherd guides his 

 flock to the prickly pear grounds, sever- 

 ing the plants with his machette and the 

 sheep eagerly nibble the soft fleshy 

 portion. 



In certain parts of Southwestern 

 Texas there are extensive tracts of the 

 prickly pear of such large size and thick- 

 ness of growth as to be impenetrable to 

 man, but which are the home of the 

 deer and other wild animals. 



When flowering, the prickly pear pre- 

 sents a most beautiful spectacle, being 

 covered with clusters of brilliant red or 

 yellow flowers with many petals. The 

 bunches of bright red pears, cone-like 

 in form, look very tempting to lovers 

 of wild fruits, but 'tis with a sense of 

 disappointment that the uninitiated dis- 

 cover that a fruit so inviting to the eye 

 should not be more luscious in flavor. 



The fleshy portion of this plant has a 

 healing effect, and is now used in the 

 medical world. 



Nina King. 



THE BUTTERFLY. 



A tiny ^^^ on a milkweed's leaf. 



In the warm and mellow sun ; 

 A belted worm on the selfsame leaf, 



With its cocoon just begun; 

 A gilded bag of a china hue. 



Like a gem of unknown name ; 

 A mystic change, and a Butterfly, 



Soars forth on its wines of flame. 



85 



— Jac Lowell. 



