Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-09
AR1zoNA,s BIO CACTUS FARM.
Supplies Most Of the Botanical Gardens
Of the World.
From the Los Aneeie. J.me.

From the Los Angeles Zines.
A mile south of Phoenix, close to the usu-
ally dry channel of Salt river, Is one of the
oldest farms in America. 1t is planted to
nothing but cactus, of every form found
within Arizona. Each kind is cultivated
under the same conditions prevailing upon
its native heath, to as great an extent as Is
possible, and most of them thrive well
under the hot skies of southern Arizona,
cared for by experts.
The main owner Iof the farm is DR.. X. e.
kunz, college-bred German scientist who
has taken up the study of cacti and their
cousins as his life work. A physician, ne
has particularly studied the plants for the
possibility of securing products valuable In
medicine. And the unitarian side has ap-
pealed to him In other ways, and he knows
the plants wherefIom come good Irult,
those that bear good water for the thirsty
desert traveller and those useful to the
architecture Of the aboriginal house-builder
Arizona has become the source OF supply
for cactus for most of the botanical gar
denS Of the world, and this demand Tor
plants has increased till lucrative indus
try has arisen from what would seem to the
uninitiated one of the most unpromising
floral fields of tt world.
The most prominent of the cactf OF the
garden is the saguaro. 1t is one Of the
landmarks of the desert. It's large white
flowers cover the end of every branch IN
April and May, followed by greenlsh
yellow fruit, which when it bursts discl0ses
scarlet pulp filled with black seeds. This
is very nutritious.
Another species of far greater use, IL not
attraction, is cereus thurberf or playa or
the natives, which was named after the
late DR.. George Thurber, editor or the
American Agriculturist Of New York. Its
northern limit is 115 miles from Phoenix
in southwesterly direction, and extends
into Sonora southwark. The flower Is
xr,Itf 81 1nr-
the saguaro.
The fruit of this species Is of delicious
taste, and for months is the support OF
tribes of Indians who then feast upon 1t.
The pulp is also dried for future use and a
sirup as well an intoxicating liquor, is
made from the fresh fruit. The Yaqu1s,
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 Amer
lea is cereuS greggii of Arizona, known to
Mexfcans as jara matraca. Unlike any
other cactus, 1t has very large tuber IN
place of fibrous roots, and 1t resembles a
great sugar beet below the surface, weigh
ing 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 1t Is the Arizona
night-blooming cereus, fragrant, the flower
white and large as a saucer.
Engelmanns hedgehog cereus, known as
echnocerus engelmanni, grows in clumps or
from two to twenty joints, having very
large brownish white spines, from one to
one and half feet in height. Its brilliant
rcse-colored flowers, very fragrant, appear
in April, and by the latter part of May are
followed by a crimson edible berry of the
size and flavor of large strawberry.
"Opinta'' is the prickly pear family, OF
which we have many specimens of various
colors. The fiat-jointed bear in some cases
fine fruit, while the round-branched, often
tod 10 hoxyn a
unfit for food These are met with on the
desert tableland and mountains. But most
of these are seen together cultivated on the
cactus farm near Phoenix.