714 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 30, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Prickly Pear Fruits. —In Figs. 300 
and 301, page 710, are shown, in average 
natural size, Tuna fruits or prickly pears, 
as sold from Italian fruit stands during 
late Summer in some of the large eastern 
cities. Commercial prickly pears are 
fruits of cultivated varieties of two well- 
known species of cactus, Opuntia Tuna 
and O. Ficus-Indica, mostly grown in Si¬ 
cily and other Mediterranean localities, 
where they form an important food staple. 
1 hese fruits are retailed in New York at 
about the price of bananas, but find little 
favor except among Italians, who consume 
them freely. The best Tunas sold here 
are yellow in color, with mealy, swee*. 
reddish-colored pulp, containing a num¬ 
ber of hard seeds. The flavor is peculiar, 
comparisons of different varieties ranging 
all the way from the taste of ripe peaches 
to that of cucumbers and even stewed 
carrots. Tuna fruits are regarded as 
highly nutritious, as they contain much 
protcid matter, and quite 14 per cent of 
sugar. In Sicily, Mexico and Algeria the 
prickly pear is a really important crop, 
the peasants living almost entirely on the 
fruits for several months each year. Va¬ 
rieties are said to differ much in quality, 
certain ones being highly agreeable to 
most tastes, and in others the seeds are 
compacted in a mass in the center com¬ 
parable <o a peach stone. Others have 
scarcely any seeds, and a few are almost 
spineless. Tuna fruits are usually eaten 
raw. hut are made into preserves and 
pickles where extensively grown. Most 
varieties are plentifully sprinkled with 
fine but sharp spines that are very irri¬ 
tating to the skin. These spines are par¬ 
tially removed by rubbing with cloths or 
straw, by washing or singeing before the 
fruits are marketed, but enough usually 
remain to make it warm for the incautious 
handler. As prepared for the table in 
Brazil, where the writer first made ac¬ 
quaintance with edible cactus fruits, a 
slice was cut from each end and a slit 
made lengthwise through the spiny rind 
to connect the cut ends. One could thus 
peel back the rind with a fork and eat 
the pulp without getting fingers and 
mouth full of pins and needles. 
A Great Traveler. —The fruiting 
species of cactus above mentioned, though 
originally found in Mexico and the West 
Indies, have traveled to all parts of the 
semi-tropical vvorld, and are now so thor¬ 
oughly naturalized in many distant places 
that they have become troublesome weeds. 
This is particularly the case in Australia 
and southern Africa. The parent species 
can no longer he distinguished in most 
fruiting varieties, and it is thought there 
are many hybrids in cultivation between 
these two Opuntias. In general the fruits 
of O. Ficus-Indica, the true Indian fig. 
are larger and more acid than those of 
O. Tuna, but those of the latter often 
have the best flavor. Where cultivated 
they are planted on sandy or rocky up¬ 
lands, and are surprisingly productive, 
yielding as much as nine tons of fruit per 
acre. Joints or cuttings are planted six 
or more feet apart in furrows made all the 
way from six to 15 feet apart. Little till¬ 
age is needed, as they soon grow strong 
enough to shade the land and smother out 
all other growth. Plants begin to bear in 
about three years, and continue with the 
greatest regularity for an indefinite time. 
Hundreds of acres of almost barren land 
in Sicily are thus converted to profitable 
use. Prickly pears or Tunas are sold 
very cheaply where they are grown. The 
usual price in the interior of Mexico is 
18 to 25 for a cent. In Algeria and Sicily 
they are, in season, the most economical 
of fruits. 
often occur from direct injuries from this 
source, but the animal declines, and may 
be lost because it is not able to consume 
sufficient quantities of the food. The 
herder at such times comes to the rescue 
and softens or gets rid of the spines by a 
variety of local means, by slashing or 
chopping by hand or machine, by fermen¬ 
tation. by steaming and most effectually 
by burning or singeing. When chopped 
by hand or machine the spines are 
less harmful, but cause some incon¬ 
venience to cattle not accustomed to pear 
or cactus browsing. When steamed or 
fermented the spines are softened and 
made harmless, but a portion of the food 
value of the product appears to be lost. 
Burning or singeing sufficient to remove 
the spines puts the plant in the best con¬ 
dition for use, making a practical feed for 
hogs and sheep as well as for horned cat¬ 
tle. It will not alone maintain cattle in 
health and weight, but must be fed with a 
due proportion of concentrated nourish¬ 
ment in the form of grain, bran or oil 
cake. Cattle may, however, be tided over 
considerable periods of drought or range 
famine on chopped or singed pear alone, 
though with an appreciable loss of 
strength and weight. It is found that 
oxen may be worked almost indefinitely 
on a diet composed very largely of pre¬ 
pared prickly pear, and that milch cows 
thrive well on 50 to 00 pounds pear a day 
if given plenty of other nutritious feed. 
On the whole, these spiny, drought-defy¬ 
ing plants are of the highest value where 
they thrive, and greatly increase the range 
capacity of semi-arid countries. 
The “Spineless Cactus.” —A great to- 
do has been made in papers and maga¬ 
zines engaged in disseminating sensational 
mis-informa-tion over the announcement of 
the "creation” of a spineless cactus in 
California. I his wonder, which contains 
half the nutriment of Alfalfa, is to trans¬ 
form deserts into blooming pastures, and 
graze cattle enough in the waste places 
of the West to feed the people of the 
earth. As a matter of fact, cacti with few 
or no spines are not particularly uncom¬ 
mon. Our Department of Agriculture ha-> 
, long been collecting spineless species. 
Luther Burbank has successfully hybrid¬ 
ized a spineless kind with a large-grow¬ 
ing, almost hardy, spiny species, and has 
now spineless seedlings estimated to 
weigh 500 pounds. Plant breeding, in¬ 
cluding hybridization and selection, does 
not "create” new characters, but develops 
and emphasizes already existing features 
and occasionally unites them in useful 
new combinations. Spineless cacti have 
always existed, but the known species are 
usually small. Opuntia Ficus-Indica, the 
fruiting Indian fig, is more inclined to 
suppress its spines in cultivated varieties 
than other large kinds. A few Italian va¬ 
rieties bear smooth fruits and have almost 
spineless joints. A large, really spineless 
cactus would be of value as forage only 
where it would be profitable to inclose and 
cultivate the plants. On the open range 
it would soon be exterminated, as every 
passing animal would browse it. Prickly 
pear is of special importance as range 
forage, because of the forbidding spines 
that protect it except in actual famine pe¬ 
riods So massive and abundant are the 
thickets in portions of Texas that 80 acres 
have supported 800 head of cattle for si,x 
months during a prolonged drought. 
Prickly pear is not cultivated for forage 
in this country. It is a natural product, 
though efforts have been made to extend 
thickets by scattering cut joints over the 
soil, where they eventually take root and 
form new plants, but the spiny armor is 
relied on to protect them until needed for 
tiding over a period of stress Cacti are 
grown for forage in a small way in some 
of the thickly populated Mediterranean 
countries, and the time may come when 
they will be needed here. Burbank's spine¬ 
less variety and others to be developed 
by coming experiments may be needed, 
but they will have to be grown under 
protection, as are all cultivated forage 
crops, and may thus cost about all they 
are worth. w. V. F. 
Use for Forage. —Large-growing cactus 
plants have been used, in the semi-arid 
regions in which they most freely grow, 
from the earliest times, for hedging, and 
in periods of drought for cattle forage. 
The fruit-producing Opuntias are special 
favorites for both purposes, from their 
free growth and formidable spines on the 
one hand, and for the succulent and nutri¬ 
tious character of the stems and joints 
after the spines are disposed of, on the 
other. On account of the sharp and irri¬ 
tating spines covering every part of the 
plants above ground, cattle seldom browse 
cactus plants—always called “pear” on 
the ranges as a handy term for prickly 
pear—when other roughage can be ob¬ 
tained. but in stress of drought, when 
grasses and unarmed herbage of all kinds 
dry up, they attack the juicy pear joints, 
but are soon disabled by' the pain and in¬ 
flammation caused by the needle-like 
spines that pierce lips, tongue and portions 
of the digestive organs. Death does not 
JONES PAYS 
FREIGHT 
Wagon $ 
ON TRIAL 
ALL IRON. STEEL AND BRASS 
Jones Box No.331 ■ Binghamton, n.y. 
PISOS CURE FOR 
CURES WHERE ALL ELSE FAILS 
Best Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. 
Use in time. Sold by druggists. 
CONSUMPTION 
When you write advertisers mention Tjie 
K. X.-y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal." See guarantee, page 8. 
gj&pKT YOUR IDEAS 
$100,000 offered for one In- 
venlion; $8,500 for another. 
yK Book “How to Obtain a Patent" and 
fjjjm "What to Invent" sent free. Send 
rough sketch for free report as to 
f patentability. We advertise your 
patent for sale at our expense. 
“ Chandlee & Chandlee, Patent Attorneys, 
979 F. Street, Washington, D. C. 
pLH I'I LI/.EK LIME cheaper than Phosphate. 
* Manufactured by Walton Quarries, Harrisburg, Pa. 
HARVEY XXX BOLSTER SPRINGS 
will carry ANY' load safely over any road. They are 
inexpensive and save their cost ou wa^on and Har¬ 
ness in a short time. < 'all on your dealer or send to 
us for catalog, with free offer. 
HARVEY SPRING GO. 
103 K Murray Ave. Karine Junction, Wls. 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
and other INSECTS killed bi* 
GOOD’S 
Caustic Potash Whale-Oil Soap No. 3 
Endorsed by U. S. Dept, of Agri. and State Experiment 
S» a lions. This soap is a Fertilizer as well as an Inseeti- 
eldp. 5'i-lb. kegs.$2.50; l(KI-tb. kegs. $4.M): half barrel. 
270 lb.,3%eper ib; barrel.425 lb..3!*c. Send for booklet. 
•JAMES GOOD, Original Maker, 
939-41 N. Front Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Free Sample of 
Amatite Ready Roofing 
A M. A T I T E is a proposition with 
plenty of daylight on it. We not only 
send at any ones request a 
free sample and booklet, 
but we go further, and in 
that booklet we name 
frankly and candidly the 
materials that are used, 
and describe the process 
of manufacture. 
Here, for instance, is a 
quotation from our book¬ 
let, “How is your 
Roof": 
“ Amatite" Roof¬ 
ing consists of two 
sheets of wool felt, 
saturated with pure Coal Tar. 
These are cemented together with 
straight-run Coal 'far Pitch." 
That is the kind of a thing a buyer 
wants to know. Its the kind of thing 
most manufacturers won’t take pains to 
tell the buyer 
We believe in telling everything we 
know about AMATITE. 
Amatite on a 1'ark Building. 
MRS. WINSLOW’S 
SOOTHING SYRUP 
ha» been rued by Millions of Mothers for their 1 
children while Teething for over Fifty Years. < 
It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays ( 
all pain, cures wind coUc. and Is the best < 
remedy for diarrhoea. 
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A BOTTLE. 
Positive, Comparative, Superlative. 
“I have used one of your Fish Brand 
Slickers, for five years, and now want 
a new one, also one for a friend. I 
would not Be without one for twice the 
cost. They are just as far ahead of a 
common coat as a common one is 
ahead of'nothing.” 
(Sinic on.application.) 
Be sure you don’t get one of the com¬ 
mon kind—this is the 
mark of excellence. 
A. J. TOWER CO., 
BOSTON, U.S.A. 
TOWER CANADIAN CO., Limited, 
TORONTO, CANADA. 35 2 
Makers of Wet Weather Clothing & Hats. 
Its wearing qualities time will prove to 
you. Here is a little story on that point 
which is worth telling. In October, 
1904, we put a sq. foot of AMATITE 
out on the stone ledge of an eighth story 
window in a New York Office building. 
It was an extremely unfair test to apply 
to any roofing. It .was exposed to all 
the violence of winter storms sweeping in 
direct from the Atlantic, there being no 
buildings anywhere near that could act as 
a shelter. In summer the heat on it was 
often terrific. It was not even weighted 
down and the rain water soaked it from 
below, whereas in actual use the underside 
would have been always dry. Sometimes 
it was completely encased in ice. 
About a year later we took in the sam¬ 
ple and examined it. It was actually im¬ 
possible to discover any trace of wear. 
It had not become the least brittle, the 
edges had not curled, it was absolutely 
identical in color, appearance, pliability, 
and toughness with a new sheet of 
AMA FITE and after we had washed off 
the dust it was impossible to distinguish 
the old from the new. 
Here’s one more point which the ex¬ 
perienced ones will appreciate. .AMA¬ 
TITE requires no coating or painting. 
It costs nothing to maintain and you can 
lay it yourself. Send for the free sample 
and booklet to our nearest office and judge 
for yourself. If you do this your future 
roofs will all be of A M A TIT E. 
Barrett Manufacturing Co., New York, 
Chicago, Philadelphia St. Louis, New 
Orleans, Cincinnati, Allegheny, Kansas 
City, Cleveland. Minneapolis 
RUBEROID is absolutely water¬ 
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requires no expensive attention, and 
the cost is less than that of metal 
or shingles. 
The reputation of (lie Standard 
Faint Company stands behind its 
quality. Try it side by side with any 
other prepared roofing and the re¬ 
sults will be more convincing than 
our arguments. 
Our advice is at your command. 
Write for samples and Booklet R. 
PRESS HAY 
Profitably for yourself and your neighbors 
with the Double Stroke, Full Circle 
RED RIPPER HAY PRESS. 
One and two horse sizes. Large capacity. 
Simple In construction. 
Half the Weight, Half the Price, 
of others of same capacity. Kales all kinds of 
bay and straw. Send for catalogue. 
Harder Mfg. Co.. Box 11. Cobleskill. N.Y. 
THE STANDARD PAINT COMPANY, 
SOLE MANUFACTURERS, 
lOOWiiliam Street, New Yor 
Saves the life of many horses 
Pratts Prepared Fever Powder. 
Made by Pratt Food Co., Phila. Over 30 years old. 
