The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-21
From the New York Commercial.

From the New York Commercial.
 N MILE south of Phoenix. Ariz.,
 PU close to the usually dry channel
 of Salt river, is one of the oldest farms in America It is planted to noth- ing but cactus, of every form found with in Arizona Each kind is cultivated under the same conditions that prevail upon It's natf heath, to as great an extent as IS possible. and most of them thrive well under the hot skies of Arizona, cared for by experts.
 The main owner of the farm Is Dr. R.. E. Kunz, a college bred German scientist
 who has taken up the study of cacti and their cousins as his life work. A physi- cian he has practically studied the plants for the possibility of securing products valuable in medicine. And the utilitarian side has appealed to him, in other ways and he knows the plants wherefrom come
 good fruit, those that bear good water for the thirsty desert traveller and those use | full to the architecture of the aboriginal
 householder. Arizona has become the
 source of supply for cactus for most of the botanical gardens of the world, and th.s demand for plants has increased till a lucrative industry has arisen from what
 would seem to the initiated one of the most unpromising floral fieids of the
 world
 The most prominent of the cacti of the garden is the saguaro. It is one of the l landmarks of the desert. It's large white l flowers cover the end of every branch
 in April and May, followed by greenish yellow fruit, which, when 1t bursts, dis
 closes a scarlet pulp filled with black
 seeds This is very nutritious.
 Another species of far greater use, if not attraction, is Cereus thurberi, or
 Pitaya of the natives, which was named after the late Dr. George Thurber, editor of the American Agriculturist of New York. It's northern limit Is 115 miles from Phoenix in a southwesterly direc- tion, and extends into Sonora southwark The flower is white, nocturnal and smaller than that of the saguaro.
 The fruit of this species is of delicious taste, and for months is the support or tribes of Indians. who then feast upon it. The pulp is also dried for future use. and a syrup, as we'll as an intoxicat- ing liquor, is made from the fresh fruit. The Yaouis, Papagoes and Pimas largely subsist on the fruit of this cactus. The stems of this cactus grow from six to twenty feet high.
 Perhaps the queerest cactus of all America is Cereus greggii, of Arizona. known to Mexicans as lara matraca. Un- like any other cactus, it has very large tuber in place of fibrous roots, and it resembles great sugar beet below the surface, weighing from two to fourteen pounds The stems are not more than two to four feet high, as thick as finger and covered with very short spines. The tuber is medicinal. used externally in Mexico. It is the Arizona night blooming cereus, fragrant, the flower white and large as a saucer.
 Engelmann's hedgehog cereus known as Echinocereus engelmanni. grows in clumps of from two to twenty joints, having very large brownish white spines. from one to one and a half feet in height. Its brilliant rose-colored flowers. very fragrant, appear in April, and by the latter part of May are followed by a