ON USEFUL SUBSTANCES IN CACTUS 



of many kinds are grown, but the workmen usually 

 prefer the fruit of the Opuntias to any other that 

 is in season at this same time. 



The improved fruits are rapidly gaining in 

 popularity in the markets. When shipped to the 

 east they bring about the same price as the best 

 oranges, and the fact that they can be produced 

 at a fraction of the cost of growing the orange 

 should give them importance from the standpoint 

 of the orchardist. 



Reference has been made also to the fact that 

 the fruit has excellent qualities for making pre- 

 serves and jams and jellies. The scarlet and crim- 

 son varieties have value in supplying coloring 

 matter for other fruit preserves, ices, and 

 confections. 



This newer vegetable pigment, with its beau- 

 tiful shades of color, should largely supplant the 

 objectionable analine dyes that are now so gen- 

 erally used to color ices and confections and non- 

 alcoholic beverages. 



The Food Value of the "Leaves" 



In countries where the cactus grows abun- 

 dantly, it has long been known that its young slabs 

 make a palatable form of greens when cooked. 



In recent years some scientific experimenters 

 have made the attempt to test the food value of the 

 leaves of the partially improved cactus. 



[245] 



