HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 1738 
and tons of that stuff around San Antonio, Tex. Nowthere are several 
miJlions of acres of land growing cactus in the United States. 
Now, there are a few things I believe it is our duty to investigate. 
When I tell farmers these things they are incredulous, and make fun 
of them. I want to get some facts. I have seen the machinery build- 
ing where the machines are made that cut the cactus. I want to get 
some definite information and I want to determine the real food value 
of the cactus, and I am going to ask those experiment stations out 
there, and am going to give them the money to do it, to feed that 
cactus that has been running through the cutting machine against 
alfalfa hay and so on, and publish that for the benefit of the people 
who live on the desert. 
Mr. Scott. Does not this fact seem to indicate that the people in 
that region understand it? 
Mr. Spiriman. I simply want to bring it to the attention of every- 
body in that country. 
Mr. Scotr. Do you not think that the manufacturer of that machine 
will be likely to help you? 
Mr. Sprttman. I do not think he will. He is just manufacturing 
these little machines as a side issue, and he does not appreciate the 
importance of it. 
Mr. Roprey. How so n could the crop be removed? 
Mr. Spruitman. That is the thing I want to find out myself; it isa 
very important one. That is the very next thing I have my finger 
on here. How long does it take that crop, after you have harvested 
your crop in the desert, how long does it take to grow on there again? 
You see that grows in batches 50 or 100 yards apart all over the desert. 
The Cuarrman. Do you not know how quickly it will grow again? 
Mr. Roper. I really do not know. I have been through from El 
Paso to Los Angeles on the Southern Pacific; and you pass through 
hundreds of miles of that cactus 4 or 5 feet high—of different varieties— 
and one would think that it ought to be good for something, a crop 
enough to feed millions of head of stock if it can be used for that pur- 
pose. If this Department can show that fact it will have conferred a 
blessing on this country that will be almost incalculable. 
Mr. Scott. Do you know whether any other variety than the prickly 
pear is used for food? 
Mr. Sprtitman. Lots of them. 
Mr. Roper. In time of famine the cattle feed off of them. 
Mr. Bowrr. Is this the plant here [showing papers]? 
Mr. Sprriuman. That isa true cactus. I want to give some infor- 
mation on that point. It is only going to take a small amount to get 
the information I want. It will take a little more to carry on the 
feeding experiment. I have only estimated $1,000 for the whole work. 
If we can demonstrate and get the confidence of the farmers and show 
them what the cactus will do and how to utilize it I do not hesitate to 
say that it will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the United 
States of America. 
Mr. Ropry. I have heard men who grow hundreds of millions of 
cactus say that ‘‘nature put it there for some purpose, and when we 
find out what it is it will make a tremendous crop.” 
The Cuarrman. Is cactus a slow growth, Doctor? 
Mr. Sprriuman. That I do not know. I want to find out; we have 
no information on the plant. 
