$ PASTIME FOR THE RICH 265 



read about in Vols. V and VI of the Collier edi- 

 tion as much importance for the future nutri- 

 tion of mankind as he does to the cactus slabs 

 as fodder for cattle, horses, hogs, hens, and other 

 animals. 



As for flavor, he tells us something which will 

 arouse the attention of epicures and fruit men: 

 "On my grounds the choicest varieties of fruits 

 of many kinds are grown, but the workmen 

 usually prefer the fruit of the opuntias to any 

 other that is in season at the same time." 



Will not some relative of Hoover come along 

 to do a great deed? He could help the food 

 world enormously by making the Burbank cactus 

 pear as common everywhere as the orange and 

 the banana. It contains some 14 per cent sugar, 

 and is, like the orange, rich in some of those 

 mineral salts (magnesia, soda, potash, lime, in 

 assimilable form) which recent dietetic research 

 has shown to be the most valuable of all food 

 elements. 



Professor Leotsakos of the Greek University 

 of Athens, who visited Burbank some years ago, 

 informed him that the cactus fruit is "a very 

 important part of the dietary of millions of 

 people around the Mediterranean for about 

 three months of the year. He declared that he 

 himself would prefer a half dozen good cactus 

 fruits for breakfast to the best beefsteak." 



He was delighted with the superior quality 

 and productivity of the Burbank improved 



