January, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



31 



to a sight of it and also a slice. Each fruit 

 was \vrai)ped in tissue paper and packed in 

 fine sawdust. They, were smooth-skinned, 

 varying in color from pale green thru 

 green flushed delicately with rose, yellow, 

 amber, salmon rose to some that were a 

 beautiful, clear dark red, just the shade of 

 a Jaequiminot rose. They were exquisite, 

 and, unlike many other beautifully colored 

 fruits, the flesh was intensely and evenly 

 colored clear thru; in fact, the coloring was 

 richer in the flesh than in the skin. 



I believe I tried to tell you something 

 about the taste of the cactus fruits after 

 eating those in Santa Eosa last February, 

 but Mr. Burbank explained that they were 

 not ripe at the time, and that was why he 

 wished us to taste them in the fall. Being 

 unripe they did not show the gorgeous col- 

 orings at that time either. 



The very deep red ones evidently are 

 more delicate than the others, for two were 

 a soft mass and quite spoiled when they 

 arrived; but one was just dead-ripe, juicy, 

 rich-flavored, and luscious. It was so beauti- 

 ful I couldn 't bear to eat it, but so tempt- 

 ing-looking I couldn't help it. 



While there were differences in the flavors 

 of the various colored fruits all the ripe 

 ones were fine, and some that were unripe 

 became mellow and sweet after a few days. 

 To some people the flavor of these cactus 

 fruits suggests the banana, the pineapple, 

 or the apricot, or perhaps a blend of all of 

 them. To me it is more like a fine musk- 

 melon or the so-called honeydew melon at 

 its best. Strange to say, when the fact that 

 they will grow in a desert is taken into con- 

 sideration, all the cactus fruits are very 

 juicy. A plate of the sliced fruit, thoroughly 

 chilled on ice, would be tempting indeed on 

 a hot summer day, and as beautiful as a 

 bowl of flowers. 



They would undoubtedly be delicious in 

 fruit salads, sliced and served with cream 

 like peaches, and on account of their rich 

 and varied colors would be very attractive 

 in preserves or conserves, sherbets and ices, 

 tapioca and gelatine puddings. 



Maybe you think I am over-enthusiastic 

 about this fruit Opuntia, if we give it its 

 correct name. I don 't mean to convey the 

 idea that it is more delicious than many of 

 the better-known fruits, but I think it is 

 just as good, quite as beautiful, and it will 

 grow and produce food, drink, and forage 

 abundantly on poor soil with practically no 

 cultivation, and if left undisturbed will in- 

 crease constantly in size. It represents 

 more than 16 years of hard, painstaking 

 work and study on Mr. Burbank 's part. 



If we of the human race learned our les- 

 sons under the Great Teacher as well as the 

 desert cactus learned under its teacher, Mr. 

 Burbank, lost the thorns of our characters, 

 and so lived that our lives would produce 

 abundant and valuable fruits amid discour- 

 aging environments, this world would be a 

 happy place for all, wouldn 't it? 



FAST-GEOWING walnut trees which are 

 grown for their beauty, both as trees 

 and in the form of lumber, may not 

 belong on a food page, but they are going 

 to have a little place on this one not only 

 this month, but in the future, if they be- 

 have as they should and grow. 



Last May I told about seeing the large 

 walnut tree which had attained in nine 

 years a wonderful growth. I said then four 

 years, but corrected it in a later issue after 

 Mr. Burbank corrected me. The name of that 

 variety was the ' ' Paradox. ' ' I have won- 

 dered since if Mr. Burbank heard the tenth 

 commandment crack as I stood looking 

 at that beautiful tree, which looked as 

 if it might be fifty years old instead of 

 nine. Whether he did or not, he later prom- 

 ised me one of them together with a 

 "Eoyal, " which is an equally beautiful and 

 quick-growing walnut and hardy enough to 

 stand our climate. 



After Mr. Burbank 's letter came I lay 

 awake nights worrying for fear I could not 

 find a man to help me plant them, for our 

 boys are away at school, their father was 

 just about to leave for some weeks on a 

 business trip, and even unskilled garden 

 help is almost impossible to obtain in our 

 vicinity. To tell the truth, while I have never 

 been tempted to exchange my husband for 

 any other man, not even a garden lover, 

 sometimes, as in this particular instance, I 

 have wished the marriage service had i ead 

 this way, ' ' I promise to love and cherish 

 her and spade her flower beds." 



The trees finally came the day before 

 Thanksgiving, one of our kind friends 

 found another who knew all about setting 

 out trees, and now the baby trees are safely 

 planted, cuddled in warm straw blankets 

 and protected by strong stakes. Maybe when 

 the gentleman comes home and sees the loca- 

 tion of the "Eoyal" it will be a lesson to 

 him to stay at home and look after his wil- 

 ful wife, for it is where she wanted it and 

 not where he advised her to put it. It stands 

 in the middle of a large, open space in the 

 lawn where it will eventually shade the 

 porch; that is, it will in a very few years 

 if it grows according to schedule. If it does 

 not then I shall have to tell that husband 

 of mine that I am sorry I did not obey him 

 and put the tree in a less conspicuous place. 

 The less hardy tree, the Paradox, is planted 

 where the man of the house suggested. The 

 buds on that one looked green and swollen 

 when it came. I hope the infant tree will not 

 make a fatal mistake and attempt to grow 

 before our winter is over. 



If those walnut trees live and if I live — as 

 a Gleanings correspondent — you will prob- 

 ably be informed of their condition at 4east 

 once a year, altho it would be humiliating 

 to have to admit their untimely death, or 

 worse yet, failure to make the expected 

 growth. Just possibly they will deserve be- 

 ing photographed for this page in the fu- 

 ture. 



