House of Representatives, United States 

 Part of Cong. Record 



LUTHER BURBANK AND HIS WORK 



From the Speech of 

 Hon. Everis A. Hayes 



of California 

 In the House of Representatives 



SPINELESS CACTUS 



No more important thing has recently occurred 

 in agriculture than the successful production of 

 the rapid-growing, edible spineless cactus by Lu- 

 ther Burbank. After sixteen years of expensive 

 and costly experimentation he has produced a new 

 and most valuable cattle food for the world. Mr. 

 Burbank does not claim to have discovered the 

 spineless cactus. Some varieties of this plant 

 have been known for years, but without excep- 

 tion they have been non-edible by any animal. 

 For many years it has been the custom in Africa, 

 as well as in those parts of America where it 

 abounds, to feed to cattle certain varieties of 

 the prickly pear cactus after the spines have 

 been burned off. This burning, of course, greatly 

 increases the cost of fodder. The food value of 

 this spiney cactus for stock has been known by 

 cattlemen, who have grown and used it for same 

 years. 



Mr. William Sinclair, a successful cattle grower 

 of Texas, writes: 



"We find it very poor policy to put the slight- 

 est limit on the amount of cactus our cows get. 

 The more they can eat the better they thrive and 

 the more milk they give. There is nothing that 

 sets 1 them back more than a shortage of cactus. 

 If we happen to be. short of milk the cause is 

 almost invariably traced to the shortage ofj 

 cactus." 



The following table shows the comparative 

 value of the average cacti, alfalfa, hay and gam- 

 ma, a typical range grass, according to analyses 

 made by the University of Arizona agricultural 

 experimental station: 



In Water-Free Substance 

 Cactus 



without Alfalfa Gamma 

 fruit hay grass 



Ash 19.91 5.67 15.11 



Protein 6.48 12.74 6.99 



Fiber 10.22 39.04 30.31 



Nitro free extract.. 61.48 41.06. 45.63 



Ether 1.83 1.49 1.96 



The great desirability of the rapid growing 

 and edible spineless cactus for cattle food has 

 been recognized all over the world. Inspired by 

 the work of Mr. Burbank and by the experiments 

 made by the French Government in Algiers, the 

 United States, through the Department of Agri- 



culture, was several years ago moved to take up 

 the matter of securing spineless cactus. Experts 

 were sent to foreign countries, and the world 

 was searched that a cactus might be found spine- 

 less, or nearly spineless, which would have suffi- 

 cient nutriment to be valuable as a cattle fodder. 

 From the plants so collected the Department of 

 Agriculture has been able to produce a cactus 

 sufficiently free from spines and nutritive 

 enough to be of some value for the cattle busi- 

 ness. But today, in spite of all its organization 

 and its wealth, the Department of Agriculture 

 has not obtained a cactus that is in any respect 

 the equal of the cactus produced by Mr. Burbank 

 single-handed. 



Of all stock food, the Burbank improved spine- 

 less cactus is by far the most prolific. 



It is adapted to almost any soil where the tem- 

 perature does not go below 18 degrees above zero, 

 and it will stand a great amount of heat. 



Cactus is the only fodder that furnishes green, 

 succulent feed all the year. 



Another source of great value in the Burbank 

 improved spineless cactus is its fruit. It is a fall 

 and winter fruit of attractive colors crimson, 

 scarlet, yellow, white and variegated. It is a sure 

 bearer; a good packer and shipper; very health- 

 ful, andi of a flavor which many prefer to that 

 of bananas or figs. It contains 8 per cent to 16 

 per cent of sugar; is a great fattener for hogs 

 and cattle. Poultry also is extremely fond of it. 



These make fine jellies, jams and glace fruits, 

 and can be used for coloring ices, jellies, confec- 

 tionery, and so forth. 



In an experimental way, from the Burbank im- 

 proved spineless cactus, paper pulp and wood al- 

 cohol have been produced. But the greatest 

 value of Burbank improved spineless cactus will 

 be that it will make highly productive and valu- 

 able vast tracts of land now barren because of 

 insufficient rainfall, not only in Southern Cali- 

 fornia and Arizona, the natural home of the 

 cactus, but also in South America, Australia, 

 India, Egypt and elsewhere. 



For example, on the west side of the San 

 Joaquin Valley are large tracts of land prac- 

 tically bare and worth but $10 or $15 per acre. 

 The annual rainfall is about five or six inches 

 making the land semi-arid. On this soil, with- 

 out irrigation, is produced enough, with a few 

 pounds of chopped straw, bran or other rough- 

 age, to keep four cows per acre all the year. This 

 same land, when so situated that it can be irri- 

 gated and planted to alfalfa, keeps about one 

 cow per acre annually and is now selling for $200 

 per acre. In other words, Burbank improved 

 spineless cactus will give $15-an-acre land a 

 greater earning power than alfalfa on $200-an- 

 acre land. 



Alexandria, Egypt, April 23, 1908. 



"Please be kind enough to send us offer for 

 one or mo're varieties of plants and the amount 

 Of money we will have to send to you for post- 



ing a lot of leaves to Egypt. 



"His highness, the Khedive, is keenly inter- 

 ested in the question of your Opuntias and will 

 be glad to see a success of our future experi- 

 ments," Charles Chevalier de Blumencron. 



