42 



however, that different species of coccids produce 

 different results on their host-Opuntias. This 

 insect was forwarded to Queensland, and has 

 now become established at the Experiment Station 

 at Dulacca. 



None of the other insects found attacking 

 Prickly-pear, appeared to produce any detri- 

 mental effect. 



In regard to the destruction by utilisation 

 as a fodder for stock, the experience of South 

 Africa agrees with that of Eastern Austraha. 

 Prickly-pear is of some value as an accessory 



food supply during times of drought. It is used 

 at other times to some advantage as a roughage 

 for cattle and ostriches. 



Its utilisation in the arts and industries has 

 not yet passed beyond an experimental stage. 



In regard to the destruction of Prickly- 

 pear by chemical and mechanical means, the 

 most satisfactory and economical results have 

 been obtained by using arsenite of soda solution, 

 or " Jansen's Extirpator," these poisons being 

 supplied to farmers at cost price by the Govern- 

 ment. 



IV. THE CANARY ISLANDS. 



The Commission prosecuted inquiries in the 

 Canary Islands, which were visited while 

 en route from South Africa to England, 

 remaining there from 21st to 28th May, 1913, and 

 visiting for this purpose both Teneriffe and 

 Grand Canary. "Whilst on the former island, 

 attention was devoted to the condition of occur- 

 rence of locally-developed Prickly-pears in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Santa Cruz, and be- 

 tween that city and Orotava. At Grand Canary, 

 the neighbourhood of Las Palmas afforded the 

 Commission good scope for its inquiry, but it also 

 inspected the infested country extending along 

 the north coast of the island to Agaete and in- 

 cluding Arueas, the still important site of the 

 cochineal industry-. 



SPECIES OP PRICKLY-PEAR. 



The species of Prickly-pear occurring natur- 

 alised in the Canary Islands have been specified 

 with more or less comprehensiveness by — (1) 

 Barker-Webb and Sabin Berthelot (1840) ; (2) 

 V. Perez and P. Sagot (1867) ; (3) R. Lowe 

 (1868) ; (4) P. Jose de Viera y Clavigo (1899) ; 

 (5) R. Pitard and L. Proust (1908) ; (6) I. H. 

 Burkill (1911) ; (7) M. Burkill, Miss (1912) ; and 

 others. They are as follows : — 



1. Opuntia ficus-indica* Mill., named as such 



by Webb and Berthelot, by Perez and 

 Sagot, by Pitard and Proust, and by M. 

 Burkill; 0. tuna by Lowe, Cactus 

 cochinelifera by de Viera y Clavigo, and 

 Nopalea cochinelifera by Brown (1901, 

 p. 278). It is designated amongst the 

 inhabitants of the Canary Islands, 

 according to de Viera y Clavigo, 

 Higuera, Chumbra, Higuera de Indias, 

 Tunera or Roque, and Nopalera or 

 Palatera. 



2. Opuntia dillenii, Haw., named 0. tuna by 



Perez and Sagot and by Pitard and 

 Proust ; Cactus cochinelifera by de Viera 

 y Clavigo, and 0. dillenii by Lowe and 

 M. Burkill. 



3. Opuntia rohusta, Wendl. 



4. Opuntia monacantha, Haw. 



5. Opuntia tomentosa, Salm-Dyck; the Tu- 



nera de Terciopelo (fide Perez and 

 Sagot). 



* It is difierent to the common species in South Africa, 

 its segments being more symmetrical, resembling in this 

 respect those of the Barbary fig of the Mediterranean 

 coasts for which Mr. Burkill (1911) uses the name O. 

 aecumana. 



In addition to the foregoing, Miss Burkill hag 

 recorded — (6) an Opuntia from Grand Canary, 

 "a plant with rather long dark thorns"; (7) an- 

 other Opuntia (from Teneriffe) with straight 

 spines; and (8) Opuntia irasiliensis, Haw., as a 

 garden plant at Orotava, Teneriffe. These last 

 three species were not, however, met with by the 

 Commission, it evidently not having visited the 

 spots where they are known to occur. 



The first-mentioned is related to the most 

 prevalent " pest pear" of South Africa, while 

 one growing near Rockhampton, Queensland, may 

 be a variety of it. The fourth one, 0. monacantha, 

 has already been referred to as being widely 

 distributed in Australia. The fifth, 0. tomentosa, 

 is the Tree-pear of the Central area of Queens- 

 land and the Helidon district. 



By far the most generally spread and pre- 

 valent species in the two islands visited is 0. 

 flcus4ndica, a plant of large and robust habit, and 

 one that is to be distinguished by its orange or 

 flame-red flowers and oblong-ovoid fruit of a yel- 

 lowish-green colour and with greenish-white pulp 

 (Lowe). In the Canary Islands, as in South 

 Africa, we find commonly both a less copiously 

 and shor'ter-spined form which is almost unarmed, 

 and a more spinous one. R. Lowe, who has weU 

 described this plant (1868, I., p. 314) does not 

 admit that the two varietal forms are distinct. 

 He mentioned that the less spiny form passes 

 gradually into the more spiny variety, and that 

 both conditions may be met with on the same 

 plant at different periods and even in different 

 parts of the one plant at the same period. Perez 

 and Sagot (1867, p. 21) referred to the diminu- 

 tion of the spiny conditions as a result of careful 

 cultivation of this cactus. 



The third kind of Prickly-pear referred to — 

 i.e., 0. robusta, Wendl. — is one of even coarser 

 habit than is the last. It was found to be quite 

 prevalent at Teneriffe, along the road between 

 Santa Cruz and Orotava, as well as at various 

 localities in the north of Grand Canary. It is 

 readily distinguished from the species above- 

 named by its larger, more discoidal, and more 

 greyish-green stem-joints and by its yellow 

 flowers. It is the plant referred to by Drs. 

 V. Perez and P. Sagot (1867, I.e.) as one having 

 large rounded joints, a smooth epidermis devoid 

 of spines or only possessing small ones, and red 

 edible fruits. 



The awl-spined Prickly-pear— 0. 

 Haw. — ^was also locally prevalent, usually along 

 the boundaries of different tenements, both 



