89 



Various food products— e.fl'., "miel," "mel- 

 cocha," "queso," and "colonche," are manu- 

 factured from the fruits by ]\fcxicans by means 

 of extremely primitive machinery, which is 

 described by Griffiths and Hare (1907 b, p. 21), 

 who also give an interesting account of the 

 products. 



Miel. — In the preparation of this syrup or 

 " honey" the fruits are not usually seeded. After 

 being peeled they are boiled in kettles for some 

 time, when the seeds drop to the bottom and are 

 strained off. The syrup is evaporated for some 

 hours until it possesses the consistency of honey, 

 and is then drawn off and cooled in wooden 

 troughs, constant stirring being resorted to in 

 order to hasten the process. After the "Miel" is 

 set, it is bottled, becoming in time completely 

 candied. 



Melcocha. — The fruit is peeled, seeded, and 

 then boiled in fruit juice, which gradually 

 thickens until a certain degree of consistency is 

 reached. The syrup is then cooled rapidly in a 

 trough by being well stired. After having been 

 left alone for a day it is thoroughly worked up 

 in a manner similar to dough, and flavourings 

 may be added. The material is stored in wide- 

 mouthed jars. After a time crystallisation begins. 



Queso. — This product is made in a similar 

 manner to "Melcocha," but the evaporation is 

 carried further and the puddling is done more 

 thoroughly. The queso or "cheese" is moulded 

 into various forms and may be covered with tin 

 foil. It keeps indefinitely if dry, becoming 

 harder but never crystallising. 



Colonche. — This is a fermented drink made 

 from the liquid obtained by slowly boiling and 

 evaporating to a certain degree the unseeded 

 pulp of almost any species of Prickly-pear. After 

 being cooled and drained the juice is allowed to 

 ferment, some old "colonche" being sometimes 

 added to initiate the fermentation. The resulting 

 liquid is a violent intoxicant, which does not 

 keep, probably on account of imperfect sterilisa- 

 tion. Colonche is sometimes distilled in order to 

 procure a spirit. Formerly the peelings were 

 allowed to ferment and were then distilled, but 

 the resulting spirit had such ill-effects that other 

 materials, such as maguey (Agave), are now 

 being used instead. 



Utilisation as Fodder foe Cattle. 



As in other countries where Prickly-pear 

 plants and other Cactacese form an important 

 element of the vegetation, so also in Mexico they 

 have been used generally as a large contributor 

 to the sustenance of cattle both as an emergency 

 food in dry weather and as a substitute for other 

 aliment in the winter season. In a special 

 Bulletin (Ramirez, 1907) issued by the Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station of Juarez, Chihuahua, 

 on Nopal and Sotol. Dasylirion Wheeleri) as 

 winter fodder, it was concluded that when 

 Prickly-pear was given to cows in such quantity 

 as they could consume with facility, the yield of 

 milk from them was maintained, notwithstanding 

 the lowering of temperature, and so in some cases 

 in winter the use of more expensive foodstuffs 

 might thus be avoided. Its use also would 

 correct defects arising from a regimen of dry 

 pasturage. It might therefore take the place of 

 eiigilage in feeding milch cows. 



Again, the French writer, Leon Diguet, 

 when treating of certain Mexican plants em- 

 ployed as forage (Diguet, 1911), refers to the use 

 of both the flat-stemmed and cylindrical Prickly- 

 pears in the district north of Sonora and else- 

 where, and of the various species of Echinocactus 

 —the ' ' visnagas ' '—in the region southwards 

 from Sonora through Central Mexico to Oaxaca. 

 He states that in these desert regions of the 

 republic one encounters a certain number of 

 different kinds which can be regarded there as 

 forage plants. Owing to their marvellous 

 adaptation for overcoming the exigencies of the 

 hottest and driest climate, they are able to survive 

 ■\vhen all trace of herbaceous vegetation has 

 disappeared, and in consequence constitute an 

 appreciable adjunct which is the means of saving 

 many valuable animals that would otherwise die 

 during the many months of famine. He mentions 

 that all species are evidently not suitable for this 

 purpose. Use is made of the fruit of some, the 

 stem joints of others, the entire plant of certain 

 others, while in some cases {e.g., Cereus) the 

 flowers are used. He goes on to state (p. 246) 

 that in the preparation of some cacti (e.g. Echino- 

 cereus) for fodder, a cutlass-like instrument, the 

 machete, is used ; while ior the Cylindropuntias, 

 a machine providing a combined blast and rotary 

 movement is employed in order to remove the 

 numerous spines. 



Besides, in Mexico, spineless prickly-pears 

 are being cultivated for stock-feeding purposes, 

 the Department of Agriculture there having 

 issued recently two separate bulletin^ on the 

 subject — one by E. Roderiquez (1912, pp. 203- 

 207), and the other by M. Calvino (1911). The 

 latter, which is well illustrated, describes and 

 advocates a special method of propagating spine- 

 less prickly -pears by grafting. 



Griffiths and Hare (1905, 1906, 1907 a) have 

 given considerable attention to the question of 

 utilising Prickly-pear as fodder for stock, their 

 work being summarised in the section of the 

 Commission's report dealing with the United 

 States. In these papers there are references to 

 Mexico, and the result of the analyses of some 

 Mexican species is given (1906, 1907 a, p. 16). 

 Since the trunks of many of these Opuntias are 

 w^oody and tree-like, it is mainly the young 

 growth which is fed to cattle. Though all species 

 of flat Opuntias are fed to cattle, especially where 

 fodder is scarce, apparently only one Cylindro- 

 puntia, 0. inibricata, is used to any extent 

 (1907 a, p. 12). Occasionally Echinocactus 

 orcuttii is used in this way in Lower California. 

 "The average Mexican peon* cannot afford to 

 feed to stock what he himself can use so profit- 

 ably in other ways. The Prickly-pear is to him 

 primarily an article of human food, and its 

 place cannot be taken by any other plant" — 

 hence only such parts are fed to cattle as can be 

 spared from tuna culture (1907 a, p. 15). The 

 fruit rinds are fed to pigs, dairy cattle, and 

 donkeys (1907 b, p. 13), while native species 

 form a food supply for working oxen during the 

 season when other fodder is scarce. 



Dr. Vinson (1911, p. 519) has mentioned that 

 in Sonora, a State in North-Western Mexico, 

 cattle exist on cactus and furnish a small amount 

 of milk, but no doubt some legumes are also 

 picked up during feeding. 



* A Mexican peasant. 



