NATIVE PRICKLY PEAR IN SOUTHERN TEXAS. 11 



The pear does not seem to require anything like a dust mulch or deep 

 cultivation, such as is so commonly practiced with other crops in dry 

 regions. All that experience seems to indicate as necessary is to keep 

 down the weeds, which interfere with the growth of the pear the same 

 as with any other crop. Shallow cultivation appears to be sufficient, 

 but, owing to the fact that our plantations at San Antonio have at 

 times become very weedy, a shallow furrow has been turned toward 

 the rows and subsequently leveled with a spike-tooth cultivator. In 

 our two situations, the maintenance of a dust mulch has not seemed 

 necessary, even in the driest seasons. 



In one of our varietal plantings at Brownsville, established upon an 

 old Bermuda-grass sod, a good dust mulch of 2 to 4 inches seemed to be 

 very detrimental. In this case we were dealing with resaca-bank 

 loam in a perfect state of tilth for two years. Under this treatment 

 there was a constant and abundant supply of moisture in the soil. 

 The growth of all species was very rapid for a short time, but they 

 soon rotted off at the surface of the ground, and this condition con- 

 tinued at an alarming rate for two or three seasons after the estab- 

 lishment of the plantation. The spineless and introduced species 

 suffered most, but the native species rotted off also. They simply fell 

 over and took root again on top of the ground, thus becoming 

 reestablished and still making a phenomenal growth. Under these 

 humid conditions a deep dust mulch was decidedly detrimental. 

 Treatment which allowed the soil to dry out more readily was pro- 

 ductive of better results. In short, upon the heavier lands of south- 

 ern Texas, represented by the regions in which this work has been 

 done, a dust mulch does not seem to be essential, but it is necessary 

 to keep down the weeds and give sufficient cultivation to allow a good 

 penetration of moisture at the time of rainfall. 



At Chico, Cal., where the summers are long, hot, and dry, all species 

 except those from our driest deserts have withered badly when weeds 

 were not kept out, but when cultivated sufficiently to keep them down 

 no wilting occurs. The desert forms have shown no signs of wither- 

 ing at Chico, even when no cultivation or irrigation was given. Even 

 with poor cultivation, plantings of native prickly pear at Brownsville 

 have never suffered from drought, although the same plants occa- 

 sionally wither in the brush in the vicinity. At San Antonio our 

 poorly cared for and weedy plantings were often considerably with- 

 ered. The cultivation there has never been sufficient to do much in 

 the way of conserving moisture, but has usually been enough to 

 cause a good penetration of the rainfall. When no weeds were pres- 

 ent the evaporation of this rainfall from a poorly cultivated surface 

 has not caused the plants to wilt. 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1915 



