NATIVE PEICKLY PEAE IN SOUTHERN TEXAS. 7 



bility to disease in this region. In all regions, however, much 

 growth is lost after the plants attain a certain size. Even at San 

 Antonio the joints that are heavily shaded in the center of the plant 

 either rot or dry up when the plant is about 3 years old. This 

 means that these plants, like trees and shrubs in general, go through 

 a process of natural pruning which lets light and air into the center 

 of the plant. This natural pruning takes place everywhere, but 

 much more tardily when growth is less rapid. 



A summary of the conditions and of the yields obtained at Browns- 

 ville is given in Table II. 



Table II. — Summary of yields of native prickly pear grown from cuttings or old stumps 



at Brownsville, Tex.. 



Time harvested. 



Character of culti- 

 vation. 



Cuttings or 

 stumps. 



Yield per 

 acre per 

 annum. 



Species grown. 



October, 1909 



Good 



Cuttings 



...do 



Terns. 

 50.32 



38.42 



42.75 

 106. 843 



40. 314 



Opuntia gommei and 

 Opuntia cyanella. 



Do 



do 



Do... 



do 



. .do 





Oct. 21 to Dec. 27, 1911 



do 



Stumps 



Cuttings 



Opuntia gommei and 



Opuntia cyanella. 

 Mainly Opuntia gommei 



and Opuntia cyanella. 



Dormant seasons of 1912-13. . . 



Good for two sea- 

 sons ; none there- 

 . after. 



YIELDS AT SAN ANTONIO. 



Since the publication of the last bulletin * detailing the conduct of 

 experiments at San Antonio, Tex., 8 acres of prickly pear, mainly of 

 Opuntia UndJieimeri, have been grown and harvested from time to 

 time as the condition of the plantings appeared to warrant.. An 

 effort has been made on all occasions to make the test practical and 

 comparable with other crops grown in the same vicinity. Although 

 it has not been possible to secure the cultivation deemed necessary, 

 possibly even this brings a closer approximation to usual conditions. 



During the entire time that the experiments have been carried on 

 the cultivation has been poor. It has been below the average for 

 farm work in the region ; indeed, in nearly every period there was a 

 year with no cultivation at all, and in no case did cultivation to the 

 extent of conserving moisture obtain at any time. The handling 

 has been what could very properly be called poor farming. 



YIELD WITHOUT CULTIVATION. 



On March 3, 1911, a harvesting was made of an acre of uncultivated 

 planting established five years before. In this instance furrows were 

 opened up with a plow on the native unbroken sod of the region after 

 the mesquite and other shrubs had been grubbed off. The cuttings 



i Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 124, 1908. 



