THE CACTUS PEAR — A 

 PROFITABLE FRUIT 



Its Flavors Fixed, Now Working Mostly 

 for seedlessness 



THE story of the spineless cactus has been 

 briefly outlined in an earlier volume, and 

 will be told in detail in a later one. 

 There is no more important story to be told in 

 connection with the record of my entire work, 

 but it would not comport with the purpose of the 

 present chapter to go into details as to the man- 

 ner of development of this extraordinary plant. 

 For the moment we are concerned solely with the 

 fruit of the cactus. In the present chapter it will 

 be considered altogether from that standpoint. 



It should be explained at the outset, however, 

 that whereas the improved forms of cactus pear 

 about which we are speaking are grown on the 

 spineless cactus plants, yet the fruit itself is not 

 yet in all cases altogether without spicules. 



To remove the spines from the cactus slabs — 

 as the "leaves" are commonly termed — was a task 



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