PEIOKLY-PEAR TRAVELLING COMMISSION. 



I. INVESTIGATIONS IN SYDNEY, JAVA, CEYLON, Etc. 



SYDNEY. 



The Commission at the commencement of its 

 work visited Sydney, in order to confer with Mr. 

 J. H. Maiden, P.L.S., Government Botanist and 

 Director of the Botanic Gardens, and a recog- 

 nised authority on matters relating to Prickly- 

 pear. Representative specimens and photo- 

 graphs of Queensland species, with which the 

 Commission had provided itself, were utilised 

 during the discussion. 



The information gained as the outcome of 

 this conference may be summarised as follows : — 



As the Commission had already concluded, 

 there aire now more than one species of Prickly- 

 pear occurring as a pest in Queensland. These 

 several species, so far as they have been identi- 

 fied, are — 



1. Opuntia inermis, D.C., var. 



2. 0. dillenii (Haw.) of Maiden. The 



Queensland form differs from that 

 growing under this name in the Botanic 

 Gardens, Sj^dney.* 



These two species are the commonest of 

 the pest pears, the former being found 

 at Dulacca and elsewhere, while the 

 latter occurs especially in the Gayndah 

 district. 



3. 0. monacantha, Haw. (the Suttor River 



pear of Mr. Temple Clerk). 



4. 0. tomentosa, Salm-Dyck, a Tree-pear 



occurring plentifully at Westwood, 

 at Helidon, and elsewhere. 



5. 0. aurantiaca, Gillies, the small and very 



spiny form occurring at Roma and 

 Warwick. 



6. 0. imbricata, Haw., not common in 



Queensland. 



* The spiny peat-pear of Queensland is distinct from, 

 though related to, 0. dillenii which we have seen 

 naturalised in Ceylon, India, the Canary Islands, and the 

 Mediterranean littoral, as well as growing indigenously in 

 the West Indies, 



7. 0. nigricans, Haw. {10. elatior, Mill.) ; 



not common in Queensland, though 

 more prevalent in New South Wales, 

 and apparently capable of developing 

 into a serious pest. 



8. Nopalea cochinelifera, Mill., a food plant 



of the true cochineal insect. The Tree- 

 pear of Emerald, but occurring 

 sparingly elsewhere. 



9. Nopalea dejecta, Salm-Dyck, specimens of 



which Mr. J. H. Maiden has received 

 from Rockhampton. 



In addition to these species, there are in 

 Queensland others whose identification had not 

 been settled at the time of the Commission's 

 visit. " Joints" of these were brought by it 

 to Sydney and have been planted in the Botanic 

 Gardens by Mr. Maiden, in order that their 

 names may be ascertained. They include the 

 two (possibly three) thick-jointed spiny species, 

 bearing large edible fruits, occurring in the Cen- 

 tral district, where they are known locally as the 

 " Red Mexican " or " Westwood," and " Yellow 

 :\Iexican" Prickly-pears. The latter is ap- 

 parently related to 0. amyclea. 



In the course of the interview he brought 

 under notice a statement made to him that in 

 Southern Italy, where the hillsides are devoted 

 to the culture of certain species of Opuntia, a 

 breed of cattle, habituated to feeding on the 

 Prickly-pear and to chewing the spines without 

 any apparent injurious result, had been evolved 

 by crossing Holsteins and Jerseys. As the ques- 

 tion of utilisation has been referred to the Com- 

 mission, he suggested that this matter might not 

 be overlooked. 



He also referred to his introduction of spine- 

 less species of Prickly-pear as a possible method 

 of solving the problem of using to better advan- 

 tage, for the purpose of grazing, the dry western 

 lands of New South Wales. These spineless 

 varieties, however, developed spines under the 

 dry climatic conditions existing there. A fine 

 collection of these fodder forms, belonging to the 



