planted and not irrigated, will root in from 

 four to six weeks, promptly, surely and 

 without fail, if properly treated. Unlike 

 all other plants, it is best that the cuttings 

 should be wilted a little, though in hot 

 weather they will grow without wilting. 

 They can be wilted in any ordinary warm 

 climate if placed flat on the ground where 

 the sun does not strike them from 11 to 

 2, or any little shade which protects them 

 from the burning, fiery heat of the mid- 

 day sun. When the parts that have been 

 cut in removing from the old plant have 

 become dry and seared over, they may be 

 planted at once, one-third under the 

 ground and two-thirds above, either 

 straight up or slanting at any angle. This 

 is absolutely all that is necessary in plant- 

 ing cactus. If the cuttings happen to 

 be a little bruised in shipping, the bruis- 

 ed places should be cut away and during 

 the summer time will heal over at once. 

 In the winter time such bruised places 

 will promptly decay. 



PREPARING THE GROUND 



Any kind of soil will do for the cactus, 

 though as with all other plants, the better 

 it is the better they will grow. The 

 ground should be plowed and harrowed 

 and allowed to become quite dry on the 

 surface before the cuttings are planted. 

 In planting the cutting, it is well to dig 

 out all moist earth with a trowel or spade, 

 and to have dry dirt around the lower part 

 of the cuttings, as they root much quicker 

 in dry dirt than in moist, strange as it may 

 appear. Many failures of cactus cuttings 

 have been caused by planting in too damp 

 soil, or irrigating too soon after they are 

 planted. In planting for forage it is well 

 to make double rows three feet apart, and 

 these double rows should be about ten 

 or twelve feet apart and in these double 

 rows the cactus should be planted alter- 

 nately, as in this way they help to hold 

 each other up better and have more room 

 to grow, especially while young. Cactus 

 may be planted on hillsides in very hot 

 climates on the north sides. They thrive 

 best on the south sides in cold climates. 

 The cactus is especially valuable as an 

 adjunct to alfalfa, as it will grow on ordi- 

 nary land with a very small amount of 

 water, where alfalfa would be sure to die 

 out. Under such conditions, the cactus 



will thrive where alfalfa cannot be grown. 

 Nothing can be superior to the cactus for 

 this purpose, as it improves year by year. 

 Cactus should never be planted in the 

 shade or wet land. In some cases, where 

 there is an extreme cold spell of weather 

 the tips of the leaves will sometimes 

 freeze. When thus frozen all the de- 

 cayed parts should be cut away as soon 

 as possible, and as soon as a sunny day 

 comes the plants will heal over and no fur- 

 ther damage will be done, while if the de- 

 cayed portions are left on the plants a part 

 or the whole plant may sooner or later be 

 involved with the decay. 



COST OF SETTING OUT SPINELESS 

 CACTUS 



In Europe cactus has been set out by 

 hand labor, and the cost is estimated to 

 be about $5.00 per acre. 



One man can set out 1,000 slabs a day 

 in ground previously well prepared. In a 

 country where traction engines can be 

 used and large tracts set out, the cost 

 would not exceed $5.00 per acre. 



CULTIVATION 



Cultivation during the first season or 

 two is of advantage to cactus, especially 

 on dry ground. Irrigation is barely per- 

 missible after they get a good start, but 

 not until they are well rooted. Cactus will 

 thrive with one tenth the water which al- 

 falfa requires. 



WHEN TO HARVEST 

 One of the principal features of the 

 cactus is that they can be allowed to grow 

 year after year until needed in a dry sea- 

 son, or in case of a shortage of feed, then 

 can be harvested by the wholesale. On 

 good land more tons of it can be obtained 

 per acre than on five to ten acres of other 

 forage. In harvesting for ordinary, reg- 

 ular feeding, it is well to cut off the top 

 and side leaves with a long knife, hatchet 

 or other tool, and feed to the stock as 

 needed. It may be fed at any season of 

 the year without regard to season sum- 

 mer or winter, spring or fall. 



YIELD 



The yield of the cactus depends greatly 

 upon the variety. The common wild cac- 

 tus yield all the way from five to twenty 

 tons per acre the third year. Some of the 

 new ones will yield ten or even more times 



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