95S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



HICe^PEESgUME GAEBENMG 



SPINELESS CACTUS IN FLORIDA; OUR SPINE- 

 LESS CACTUS IN OHIO. 



liy comparing the picture below with the 

 one on page 825, Oct. 1, it seems quite evi- 

 dent that spineless cactus makes a better 

 prowth here in Ohio than it does down in 

 Florida, especially in Florida in summer 

 time. I presume so much wetness in sum- 

 mer is bad for cactus in Florida, but I 

 think the wetness here in Ohio during the 

 past summer is pretty nearly equal to that 

 of Florida, especially in the frequency. The 

 Flonda cactus was planted last March, 

 while the Ohio cactus was not planted out 

 till July. I told our good neighbor, Mr. 

 Harrison, to place some object near the 

 plant so our readers could judge correctly 

 of its size. I presume I should have done 

 so with our Ohio plant. 



SOME OF THE SPINELESS CACTI, AND A GLIMPSE OF 

 OUR FLORIDA GARDEN. 



My good neighbor, Mr. Harrison, is a fair illus- 

 tration of the wonderful results of our climate on 

 old people. I believe Mr. Harrison is about 80 

 years of age. The picture also illustrates the way 

 sweet potatoes and yams grow when they once gel 

 started. In the background, right back of Mr. 

 Harrison, is a specimen of the dwarf poinsetta in 

 full bloom. 



SPINELESS CACTUS IN CALIFORNIA — A GOOD 

 REPORT. 

 Mr. A. I. Root: — I have been reading all you 

 have said about cactus in the hiot lew Issues of 



Gleanings, and would say that I have boon ]irop- 

 agating between one and two acres for sevoral 

 years, and find it the most interesting plant I ever 

 cultivated. Chickens eat it readily, and it is good 

 cooked; and if it is raised on quite dry land it 

 tastes very much like currants. It should be eaten 

 with cream or milk, and honey on it. 



I think the reason those rotted (see p. 826, Oct. 

 1) was because they were cut from the old stock a 

 little too early, which caused them to turn to su- 

 gary sap and become yellow in color. In this con- 

 dition flies will blow or lay eggs in them, and they 

 will be eaten by the fly larva?. 



Cutworms also eat the chits when they first start 

 to grow if grass and weeds are allowed to grow 

 among them. The cutworms should be dug out of 

 the earth the same as where they eat cabbage or 

 tomato plants. Army worms also work on cactus 

 sometimes. 



The ground must be kept loose by cultivation, and 

 cactus will do well on the driest mountain land; 

 but if not cultivated they soon fail. They do quite 

 well without irrigation anywhere. As food it seems 

 to be very healthful. I have about twelve varieties 

 of the spineless, and two kinds of that having 

 spines. I paid from two to five dollars per slab, 

 and these have increased to hundreds. 



I see no reason why cactus could not be eaten 

 as much as bread or potatoes; and two or three 

 square rods would furnish a large amount of food. 

 The small spines or bristles on the fruit can be 

 quickly brushed off with a whisk-broom. I also eat 

 the fruit with milk and honey, arid it tastes like 

 strawberries. 



Cactus slabs should not be cut from the old stock 

 until it is about ready to put out shoots for new 

 growth. Then they should be placed in a partially 

 shady and dry place until they begin to start roots. 

 Then plant in the field. They do well laid on the 

 top of the ground without burying in the soil in 

 planting. 



Owensmouth, Cal. C. W. Dayton. 



I take it from the above that the cactus 

 slabs when cooked are tit to eat as well as 

 I he cactus fruit. If this is true it is quite 

 an important fact in favor of growing cac- 

 tus. 



(ACTUS AT $1.5.00 A TON INSTEAD OF $2.00 OR 

 $3.00 A LEAF. 



Your cactus writings are interesting when you tell 

 of paying over one dollar for a slab down in Flori- 

 da. We sell it here by the ton. I should like to 

 'end you a few tarlonds at $15.00 a ton. Several 

 of our neighbors here have fed it to cows in place 

 of ensilage, and they gave as much milk. I have 

 one plant eight feet high, and this is its second 

 summer's growth. 



Lakeside, Cal., Oct. 18. G. E. Philbi?0ok. 



Thanks for your report, my good friend. 

 The price of $1.75 per leaf or slab is the 

 highest I have jDaid. The ^ .ant 1 have in 

 mv garden here in Medina was advertised, 

 I 'tliink. at 14.00 to $5.00 a leaf; and in 

 about 90 days here in the North it has pro- 

 duced eight new leaves pretty well ap- 

 pioaching the size of the parent leaf. Just 

 now, October 23, I am blanketing it to 

 protect it from frost until I pull to pieces 

 the wliole plant to take it down to Florida. 



