LUTHER BURBANK 



as the palm of the hand, and they constitute a 

 remarkable addition to the world's forage crop, 

 particularly adapted to arid regions. 



While developing these spineless races, Mr. 

 Burbank paid attention to the fruit as well, and 

 he has developed many varieties of cactus fruit 

 varying in appearance and quality almost as 

 widely as do the different varieties of cultivated 

 apples or pears. Some of the cactus fruits are 

 white in color, others yellow, yet others a brilliant 

 crimson. The flesh is juicy and palatable. As yet 

 the prickles have not been entirely removed from 

 the skin of the fruit, but Mr. Burbank has plants 

 now under development that he is confident will 

 bear perfectly smooth fruit. It required a little 

 longer to take the spines off the fruit, because the 

 cactus does not bear fruit until it is four or five 

 years old, and it was necessary to let each suc- 

 ceeding generation come to maturity before the 

 quality of its fruit could be determined. 



Meantime the prickly or smooth condition of 

 the slabs of the plant could be observed from the 

 outset, and selection for this quality could be 

 made while the seedlings were very small. But 

 in the end the spines will be removed from the 

 fruit as effectively as they have been removed 

 from the foliage of the plant ; such, at any rate, is 

 Mr. Burbank 's confident expectation. 



In the size of its product, the cactus is to be 

 compared with the orchard fruits rather than 

 with the berries. But the cactus, in its perfected 

 varieties, is admirably adapted for growth in the 



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