Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... RECLAIMING THE DESERTS WITH CACTUS The Methods Used To Produce A Spineless Cactus PLAINSMEN will tell you that in the old days they have known the antelope and the buffalo to come for many miles to feast on cactus plants whose spines had been burnt off by a chance fire. The spines of the cactus burn like tiny tapers, leaving the slabs nearly unprotected, and the succulent forage thus made accessible constituted a meal that was precisely to the liking of the antelope and the buffalo. Horses and cattle were found to relish the plant equally under the same circumstances. In the midst of the desert sands, with little else eatable in sight that was more inviting than the sagebrush with its dry, bitter, and dusty foliage, the succulent cactus slabs, held out invitingly, offered juicy herbage that the animals browsed on with avidity. Even when the cactus still retained its spines, the antelope would sometimes try to find a way of getting at its juicy substance. I have heard plainsmen tell of seeing the antelope holding in its mouth a slab that had been dislodged, and twisting its neck this way and that in an effort to find an unprotected spot at which it could nibble; and horses and mules sometimes persistently kick the plants in their efforts to obtain the nutritious substance of the leaves and stems. Obviously the cactus had need of its spines if it was to escape the unwelcome attentions of the browsing animals that found such difficulty in securing sustenance among the scanty herbage of the plains and deserts. But by the same token it appears that if a way could be found to take from the cactus its bristling array of spines, the plant might be made to supply forage in regions where other succulents cannot secure a foothold. So the problem of...