a 
BL yr @ 
Along our route from the Hondo to the Sabinal no grass was seen. Of 
the quantities of prickly pear I remarked how fresh and vigorous they 
looked amid the dearth of other herbage. The abundance and quality 
of the different species are indeed a benefit to the stockmen in these re- 
gious, I was informed that an immense amount of the “leaves,” as the 
flat joints of the Opuntia are called, were eaten for forage. 
Not far from the Hondo we passed a ranch where a large quantity of 
the prickly pear had been hauled, and the joints were passing through 
the preliminary scorching. <A large herd of cattle was feeding on the 
scorched food as if with a relish. I heard one man say, “The prickly 
pear is all that saves this country ;” and another, “The cattle just love 
it, they can’t getanything else.” But cattle can not well thrive entirely 
on such diet. I heard from others that it was better for the health of 
the cattle to have such food mixed with hay or grain occasionally. I 
Saw a few cattle feeding on the joints in the field before they were cut 
and prepared, but they were moving their mouths as ifin pain. 1 was 
told that very often cattle, and sheep particularly, take such food with- 
out its having gone through the scorching that softens the spines and 
destroys the bristles. It would seem that these cactus lands that have 
been regarded so worthless will be more valuable, not only as furnish- 
ing food for stock, but also in other ways in which some of the species 
can be utilized. In some of the machine-shops the prickly pear serves 
a good purpose as a lubricant. The Mexicans, who give the name of 
nopal to the different species of flat-jointed opuntias, prepare certain 
dishes in which the nopal “leaf” is mixed with other food. It also has 
the reputation of making a good poultice for sores and bruises. Of the 
opuntias with cylindrical joints (called by the Mexicans, Chollas), two 
Species are common in Texas west of San Antonio. With their numer- 
ous branches they have a shrubby appearance. One, Opuntia Srutescens, 
I met with frequently between San Antonio and Del Rio, and less often 
in places farther west. The other, O. arborescens, 1 found sparingly 
east of Del Rio, but west of there very abundant. I have seen both 
species trained into good hedges. 
On our arrival at the Sabinal, we turned from our direct course west- 
ward for a short trip up the Sabinal Valley. ‘Near the creek, but not 
on its border, I noticed single plants scattered here and there of Aris- 
tida purpurea (purple bearded-grass) that is widely diffused in western 
Texas. On the border of the creek I found two or three other kinds of 
the bearded grasses (Aristida) Stipa setigera, Thurberia Arkansana, 
Hleusine Algyptiaca, and other grasses that I gathered at points already 
mentioned. We rode along the Sabinal only as far north as Utopia, 
and there, by the ereek, I found a few specimens of Panicum pubescens, 
the only place I saw it west of San Antonio. On some of the hills that 
tower along the sides of the creek one sees oceasionally in riding along 
® few plants of the Soto! and Nolina that flourish in such great aban- 
dance in western Texas. Gladly would I have lingered in this interest- 
