Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-10-23
ARIZONA CACTI AND LIZARDS.
Facts Showing That Both These Pro-
ductions of the 'tDry Zones Have |
Their Uses.

ductfons of the SDry Zones Have
Their Uses.
A Tucson, Arizona, correspondent
| of The Indiana polls Journal says:
1.-The coat-of-arms of this territory
should be group of cactl with a few
lizards rampant in the foreground,
and the background ornameAted with
ella monsters, tarantulas, and cent?
pedes. Such seal would be unique
and also keep before the public eye
some of the most characteristic fea-
lures of land of which the early
conner coined the apt saying that
Every bush has thorn, every beast
has sting for the stranger After a
long residence in this land, however,
one finds the old pioneers ready to
do battle on all points ia favor of
these sun scorched deserts. One of the
old timers tries to find in the word
Arizona the meaning of "the beautiful
(sic) zone, s." and with still more senti-
ment and less fact, another says it
means 4" the land of the beautiful
maiden, in honor, presume, of some
ancient squaw. The more matter-of-
fact part of the community are will
ing TO think that it means "the dry
zone, from ari and IONA. Whatever
the name means, the fact remains chat
it is dry zone of most unpleasant
! size, as one soon appreciates after a
| few days march across It's plains.
To the stranger the vast number and
variety of cacti in southern Arizona
are a continual source of interest
| Tho ,,nNct cOpcOiouo,c Of tbaca ie tho
enormous columnar shaft of the giant
candelabra cactus, the sahuaro of the
Mexicans. This is only found on the
southern plains, where it frequently
reaches the height of fifty feet.
| Such examples are two feet or more
in diameter at the base. The main
columns are usually supplemented at
ten or fifteen feet from the ground by
from two to four branches, which
grow out of the trunk and extend
straight up, parallel with it. The
columns are futed from the ground
to the top by alternating deep grooves
and sharp ridges, the latter fringed by
deep growth of spines. Although
these strange plants grow on the dry
est and most barren plains, yet their
pithy trunks are always so full of
water that the stroke of an ak will
bring oozing out a small set of drops
along the wound made, and the travel
er is sometimes saved from death by
resort to its water-soaked 9TH. The
last of May the tops of the column arc
! frlnged by a crown of beautiful tubu-
/ lar white flowers, from two to three
inches long. The base of this tube
contains from few to Is or 20 drops
of delicious honey-like nectar. By
cutting the base of the flower Just
above the base of the pistil one can
draw into his 11outh from the tube
thus opened all the honey. Such a
mode of taking food would be worthy
of place in fairy lore, and is without
parallel in the writer's experience. In
/ September these white flowers have
been replaced by large, soft fruit,
which the MeXicans and Indians make
into a rude kind of jelly and pack
away for winter use in clay pots made
/ by themselves. The difficulty of Sc
curing fruit growing on the top of a
spiny column from 20 to 40 feet from
the ground is obvious; but with a
very long, slender pole, armed with a
pointed nail on the end the fruit is
Espeared and brought safely to hand.
The next largest species of cactus is
the prickly pear which has the
lobular, palm Snapped leaves, grow
ing one from the other, that the
familiar small species, growing in the
east shows, except that the prickly
pair grows upright and sometimes
reaches an altitude of twenty feet,
with leaves nearly two feet across,
and several inches thick. This species
also has an edible fruit Then comes
an endless variety of smaller species.
all bearing beautiful waxy flowers Of
red, white, or yellow hues in spring.
and a conspicuous array Of spines al
all times.
There are several small deer OF
this region that are quite as interest
ing as the old plants. In fact. when
one starts for bel. candle in hand, as