

Burbank Cactus Leaf and Fruit 



The New Burbank Cactus for Fruit 



The old thorny varieties of the fruiting 

 cactus are too well known to need de- 

 scription. The fruits are the principal 

 food for millions of people during three 

 or four months each year. The fruits of 

 the Burbank Fruiting Cactus are greatly 

 superior to the old kinds, and can be 

 raised for one-tenth the cost of producing 

 other fruits. 



The fresh fruit of these improved varie- 

 ties is unique in form and color, exceed- 

 ingly handsome, unusually wholesome 

 (the large amount of vegetable salts they 

 contain being regarded as very beneficial), 

 and far superior to the banana in flavor. 

 There is never a failure in the crop, which 

 can be shipped as safely as the other de- 

 ciduous fruits. The fruit can be gathered 

 and stored like apples, and some kinds 

 will keep in excellent condition from four 

 to five months. Samples packed in or- 

 dinary packing boxes without ice, were 

 shipped to Chicago, New York, Boston 

 and Washington and kept in perfect con- 

 dition. 



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Most delicious jams, jellies, syrups, etc., 

 in enormous quantities, at a nominal cost, 

 are made from the fruits alone or in com- 

 bination with other fruits, besides various 

 foods and confections, such as Tuna 

 honey (Miel de Tuna), Tuna butter 

 (Melcocha), and Tuna cheese (Queso). 



Opuntias have been used (even the 

 thorny ones), for making confectionery 

 by the Mexicans and others for a long 

 time. Some of the finest candies of Mex- 

 ico are candied cacti of various forms. 



The juice from the fruits of the crimson 

 varieties is used for coloring ices, jelly 

 and confectionery; no more beautiful 

 colors can be imagined. 



For the old fruiting, Opuntias or Prickly 

 Pears, eighteen thousand pounds of fruit 

 per acre is found to be a common crop on 

 the poorest soils, while on good soils the 

 best Burbank fruiting varieties will and 

 have produced at the rate of more than 

 one hundred thousand pounds of delicious 

 fruit per acre. The fruits differ in various 

 ways like apples, plums or peaches. By 



