RECLAIMING THE DESERTS 

 WITH CACTUS 



THE METHODS USED TO PRODUCE A 

 SPINELESS CACTUS 



PLAINSMEN will tell you that in the old 

 days they have known the antelope and the 

 buffalo to come for many miles to feast on 

 cactus plants whose spines had been burnt off 

 by a chance fire. 



The spines of the cactus burn like tiny tapers, 

 leaving the slabs nearly unprotected, and the 

 succulent forage thus made accessible consti- 

 tuted a meal that was precisely to the liking of 

 the antelope and the buffalo. Horses and cattle 

 were found to relish the plant equally under the 

 same circumstances. 



In the midst of the desert sands, with little 

 else eatable in sight that was more inviting than 

 the sagebrush with its dry, bitter, and dusty 

 foliage, the succulent cactus slabs, held out in- 

 vitingly, offered juicy herbage that the animals 

 browsed on with avidity. 



95 



