Special Information 



The best of these improved Spinelesss 

 Opuntias when grown under favorable 

 conditions on good soil in a warm cli- 

 mate may confidently be expected to pro- 

 duce an average of nearly or quite fifty 

 to one hundred tons of feed per acre when 

 once established, each season. 



So much has been written about the 

 spineless cactus and so many are de- 

 ceived with the old cheap, half-wild va- 

 rieties which are so often offered as "Bur- 

 bank's" or "just as good as Burbank's" 

 that it seems necessary to have them dis- 

 tributed direct from the originator and 

 under correct descriptions so as to avoid 

 as much as possible any misunderstand- 

 ings, exaggerations or misstatements such 

 as heretofore have been carelessly, igno- 

 rantly or willfully made. Utterly spurious 

 "Burbank's Thornless Cactus" has been 

 offered for sale by dishonest parties for 

 six years or more, not only in America, 

 but also in Europe, Africa and Australia. 



In producing these new Opuntais more 

 than seventeen years and much thought, 

 labor and capital have been expended, 

 thousands of crosses have been made, and 

 many hundred thousand seedlings and 

 crossbred seedlings raised. The finished 

 product is receiving a royal welcome 

 everywhere by those who know. 



Few of the cacti are of any economic 

 value except the Opuntias ; of these there 

 are more than one hundred and fifty spe- 

 cies and innumerable varieties; all prob- 

 ably originally natives of the Western 

 Hemisphere and were cultivated by the 

 Indians long before Columbus discovered 

 America. No class of plants are more 

 easily grown, soil is not of much import- 

 ance and cultivation almost unnecessary. 



These new varieties are wholly distinct 

 and the only really thornless ones known 

 on earth that are of any practical value as 

 producers of feed. 

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Stock can be turned loose among the 

 cactus, after the plants have reached an 

 age of three years, as the main stem be- 

 comes woody and can not be injured. On 

 the removal of the stock from the cactus 

 plant pasture, new leaves or slabs rapidly 

 appear, and in a short time has as much 

 feed as it had originally. 



The cactus yields big, luscious slabs, 

 weighing from one to seven pounds each, 

 which can be cut at any time, summer 

 or winter. There is no particular harvest 

 season, therefore, no necessity to harvest 

 and store. 



The selection of ordinary Opuntia cut- 

 tings is of some importance. Those who 

 have grown them on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean for hundreds of years al- 

 ways select "bearing wood" if fruit is the 

 object, and the least thorny and bristly 

 leaves if a plantation is to be produced for 

 forage; even some of the partially spiny 

 ones may be made less so by careful se- 

 lection of cuttings, but this labor is wholly 

 useless since the new Burbank varieties 

 are offered. 



When alfalfa was generally introduced 

 about twenty years ago, many wiseacres 

 declared it was "no feed for milch cows." 

 Who says it is not good for them now? 



It has been proved that the poorest of 

 the Burbank spineless cactus varieties 

 are so far superior to any of the old half 

 thorny ones that no comparison with 

 them can fairly be made. Is it then sur- 

 prising that practically all the nations of 

 the earth are anxious to obtain the new 

 Burbank Cactus as soon as possible? Be 

 very careful, however, that you get the 

 Burbank cactus, not the half spineless 

 ones so very often sold as the "Burbank" 

 or "just as good as the Burbank," such as 

 the builders of the pyramids of Egypt 

 may have cultivated. 



