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 catcus burn like tiny tapers, 

 leaving the slabs nearly unprotected, and the suc- 

 culent forage thus made accessible constituted a 

 treat 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 circum- 

 stances. 



In the midst of the desert sands, with little else 

 eatable in sight that was more inviting than the 

 sagebrush with its dry and dusty foliage, the succu- 

 lent cactus slabs, held out invitingly, offered juicy 

 herbage that the animals browsed on with avidity. 



Even when the cactus still retained its spines, 



[VOLUME VIII CHAPTER VI] 



