NATIVE PRICKLY PEAR IN SOUTHERN TEXAS. 7 
bility to disease in this region. In all regions, however, much 
growth is lost after the plants attain a certain size. Even at San 
Antonio the joints that are heavily shaded in the center of the plant 
either rot or dry up when the plant is about 3 years old. This 
means that these plants, like trees and shrubs in general, go through 
a process of natural pruning which lets light and air into the center 
of the plant. This natural pruning takes place everywhere, but 
much more tardily when growth is less rapid. 
A summary of the conditions and of the yields obtained at Browns- 
ville is given in Table II. 
TaBLeE I1.—Summary of yields of native prickly pear grown from cuttings or old stumps 
at Brownsville, Tex. 
: : Yield per 
. Character of culti- | Cuttings or . 
Time harvested. mani acre per Species grown. 
vation. stumps. annum: 8& 
Tons. 
OCbvoperstS0s 2 sce. So ees Goods ene acense es Cubuingsee.e- 50.32 | Opuntia gommei and 
Opuntia cyanella. 
logeess Me eg ee il epee 0 (a) Seek gaa ce do...-.....] 38.42 | Unnamed. 
TING). Se Sg 0 aS es ee oe (eee One Sa AAR Sasa os GOSS sete e425 75 | Mission: 
ce OPOCCaAt AOU tee see |. OO.een.-- sc s22| SLUMpPS... 0-2. 106.843 | Opuntia gommei and 
Opuntia cyanella. 
Dormant seasons of 1912-13...| Good for two sea- | Cuttings... .-- 40.314 | Mainly Opuntia gommei 
sons; none there- and Opuntia cyanella. 
after. | 
YIELDS AT SAN ANTONIO. 
Since the publication of the last bulletin ' detailing the conduct of 
experiments at San Antonio, Tex., 8 acres of prickly pear, mainly of 
Opuntia lindhevmeri, have been grown and harvested from time to 
time as the condition of the plantings appeared to warrant. An 
effort has been made on all occasions to make the test practical and 
comparable with other crops grown in the same vicinity. Although 
it has not been possible to secure the cultivation deemed necessary, 
possibly even this brings a closer approximation to usual conditions. 
During the entire time that the experiments have been carried on 
_the cultivation has been poor. It has been below the average for 
farm work in the region; indeed, in nearly every period there was a 
year with no cultivation at all, and in no case did cultivation to the 
extent of conserving moisture obtaim at any time. The handling 
has been what could very properly be called poor farming. 
YIELD WITHOUT CULTIVATION. 
On March 3, 1911, a harvesting was made of an acre of uncultivated 
planting established five years before. In this instance furrows were 
opened up with a plow on the native unbroken sod of the region after 
the mesquite and other shrubs had been grubbed off. The cuttings 
1 Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 124, 1908. 
