SHINER CACTUS NURSERY 
Shiner Cactus Nursery a Center of Interest for Visitors to Laredo 
From The Laredo Times of March 23, 1936 
A big convention and rare treat for Laredo were announced this morn¬ 
ing by Olin G. Bell, vice president of the Texas Academy of Science with the news 
that that organization would hold its spring regional meeting in the Gateway to 
Mexico, April 10th, 11th, and 12th. 
Three hundred delegates are expected for this important meeting which at¬ 
tracts the leading scientists, geologists, geographers, biologists and engineers of 
the state. 
At the close of two technical sessions, Friday April 10th there will be two 
short trips arranged, one to the Shiner Cactus Nursery, which through the kind¬ 
ness of Mrs. Shiner, manager, will be open for inspection by the Academy mem¬ 
bers. The other will be a visit to the Antimony smelter through the courtesy 
of the management, to permit the Academy members to see this unique attrac¬ 
tion. 
A CHICAGOAN WENT HOME AND WROTE 
SHINER’S AT LAREDO, TEXAS—CENTER OF THE CACTUS HOBBY 
In this tremendously interesting industry, these people are students of 
every form of cacti, from each part of the world. For those who love the ro¬ 
mance of a cactus garden there is no finer nor wider assortment than the many 
varieties to be found here. In the rock gardens of California, in the Atlantic East 
and the Middle West cactus growing is an interesting hobby to many widely 
travelled people, and for you who are “hobby hunting”, start with a miniature 
cactus garden for your table, or a larger variety for your grounds. We suggest 
this beautiful novelty as a very interesting diversion. “Happy is the man who 
has a hobby.” Now, as you tour Texas or Mexico or the citrus country of the 
Lower Rio Grande Valley, visit Laredo—and see for yourself. 
—R. H. Williams in the “Home Pictorial”, Chicago. 
EVEN A TEXAS EDITOR WAS IMPRESSED 
“Frankly the trip through the Shiner Nursery at Laredo was a revelation. 
To a layman it was inconceivable that one family of plants could take such an 
interesting variety of varying shapes and forms. 
There was the Arizona giant cereus, of columns and off-shooting columns, 
that grows to a height of 25 feet or more. There was the watermelon-shaped 
Ferocactus, imported from Mexico, a cluster of which sometimes weighs as much 
as 2500 pounds. 
There were several species of one kind grafted on the native stock of an¬ 
other. There were squat, dome like plants, and tall slender ones shaped like a 
cane. There were some that looked like a rooster’s comb, others like a bottle, 
and others, in silhouette like the gnarled branches of a tree in winter. 
Yet one thing all cactus plants have in common: symmetry of design which 
in many instances is as intricate and as delicate as Venetian lace. If you have 
read this article thus far you may still be wondering what there is about a cactus 
plant. Frankly I don’t know. But I can say that once the cactus-growing bug 
bites you, you stay bit. I say this because I have observed that the cactus fancier 
is inordinately enthusiastic about his rock garden. 
Believe it or not, there are a number of periodicals in this country and 
abroad devoted in their entirety to cactus. Strangest of all is the correspondence 
which is always in motion between the growers themselves. They exchange seed, 
they swap specimens, they write each other about insects and insect control. A 
spirit of camaraderie exists that is not found among addicts in ordinary hobbies. 
So—if you are on the lookout for an engaging hobby let me recommend 
that you look into this cactus fancier business.” 
—Paul Franke, Editor “Acco Press”, Houston, Texas. 
A Cactus Garden ready made, and a cute little Mexican gardener to help 
care for it. i • , 
“When the Editor asked me to get a story about the Shiner Cactus Nursery 
for The Pan-American Ambassador I had no idea what a delightful treat was in 
store for me. My previous acquaintance with cacti had been limited to those 
growing along the road-side or in some one’s yard and I little guessed there 
were so many hundreds of species or that anything as prickly and thorny as a 
cactus could be so fascinating.” 
“Visitors and tourists along the Pan-American Highway are shown in the 
Shiner Cactus Nursery the workings of true Pan-Americanism, albeit in minia¬ 
ture. 
Here are seen natives of all the countries of North, Central and South Amer¬ 
ica and the related Islands, all living together in the greatest of harmony and 
good will.” ******* * * * 
“By this'time I knew full well I had been bitten by the cactus bug, and was 
so completely fascinated that I asked Mrs. Shiner if it would be possible for me 
to secure a small collection of my own,—one that I could keep in my sunny living 
room window. 
She led me to a garden table on which rested an attractive pottery container. 
Across one side was cemented a miniature mountain, at the base of which flour¬ 
ished some twenty or more dwarf varieties of cacti and African succulents. In the 
center of this exotic garden stood a tiny Mexican gardener in his colorful som¬ 
brero, picking tunas from an opuntia with a long sharp stick. 
This was too much! A cactus garden ready made, and a cute little Mexican 
gardener therein to help me care for it. 
So whether you are a visitor in our little city or a native Laredoan who has 
thus far overlooked this unique plant collection right at your door, I advise you 
to visit it at your earliest opportunity. And if the cactus bug bites you like it 
bit me,—well, you'll find yourself with a most fascinating new hobby!” 
WIDELY TRAVELLED MAGAZINE WRITER ALSO SUCCUMBS TO CACTUS 
From “The Pan American Ambassador”—Texas Centennial Herald 
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A FASCINATING HOBBY? 
Why Not A “Miniature Mexico” 
By CLAIRE McMURTRY 
