244 The National Geographic Magazine 



From Hugh M. Smith, Bureau of Fisheries 



Gathering Irish Moss at Scituate, Massachusetts 



published a bulletin on " The Prickly 

 Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock, ' ' 

 by David Griffiths, which contains many 

 interesting facts on this subject. It is 

 believed by some that the natural cactus 

 with its long thorns would be more serv- 

 iceable than the thornless cactus of Mr 

 Burbank, as it would not need to be pro- 

 tected against foraging cattle. 



THE SEAWEEDS OF THE UNITED 

 STATES 



WITH seaweed resources certainly 

 not inferior to those of Japan 

 or any other country, and probably 

 much superior, the United States may 

 be said practically to ignore these val- 

 uable products except at a few points 

 on its extensive coast. Statistics re- 

 cently gathered give the paltry sum of 



$35,000 as the value of the marine algae 

 prepared in the United States in one 

 year. The business is practically re- 

 stricted to Massachusetts, and is ad- 

 dressed to a single species, f the " Irish 

 moss" (Chondrus crispus). Consider- 

 able quantities of seaweeds are used as 

 fertilizer on farms adjacent to the coast, 

 but this is not a commercial enterprise. 

 In Monterey and Santa Barbara coun- 

 ties, California, the Chinese fishermen 

 dry certain algse for food, medicine, and 

 fertilizer. 



GEOLOGIC FOLIOS IN SCHOOLS 



THE Germans have a study in some 

 of their schools which they call 

 ' ' Heimathskunde ' ' - -the study of home . 

 Pupils are instructed minutely in the 

 knowledge of their immediate environ- 



