El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-03
A SARCASTIC AGRTCUITTRIST

! A SARCASTIC AGRFCULTURIST.
! Editor FL Paso Herald
would like to write a few lines on
! agricultural topics. because know the
noIIcuIture OF this section so init
/ mately, having been born in this part
1 OF the country, where I was fed on the
! milk Of the rubber plant called e-uavuIe
/ believed to be a fine substitute for
etheWlng gum, since it nearly seals up
| the baby's lips All children fed on
| guayuIe milk are known to be very
silent and very decent children. The
! agaVes also are a very fine thing for
! TINS section Any of these agaves. com
monty called spanish daggerS. DalmaS.
( lechuguilla, etc, are great stuff They
ought to be planted not only as a farm
product, but should be planted in ev-
erybOdy's yard, for the reason that they
/ make a line thing to sit on when the
| husband comes home tired out or over
| gay with exhilarating spirits. Isechu-
gullla surely IS great thing as a seat
J Tor II sobers up the most Obdurate case
or porn cuSSedneSS. / remember when
! 1 was baby, how my nurse set me on
a Iechuguilla because I would not stop
crying. and how thereafter all she had
TO do was to point 1t out TO me when
ever / was crying. And / remember
how the very sight of the iechuguilia
would rivet my intense interest ana
force me to gaze in admiration Of its
wonderful blades and beautiful thOrns
Now, the mesquite is another Won
desert country 1t will live on the al
kali soils Of the bottoms and there is
no doubt but that other berries. like
the coffee berry, vanilla bean tonca
and kindred beans could be grated to
the mesquite tree successfully, if some
Burbank were to undertake it. The
thOrns on the mesquite are caused by
the lime in the soil and are put there
to keep the snakes from crawling I'D
the trees and stealing the birds nests
The tOrnillO is just as thorny and in
stead Of giving a long bean, gives one
that goes off into a series OF twisted
curls like lot OF corkscrews punched
together This corkscreW fruit is what
gives the tree its name OF "tornillo"
which is the Spanish word for screw
This tOrnillO wood is tough and stout
and makes a beautiful cane with its
splendid rows Of spikes down the whole
length of the stick. As a food for cat
tie and horses It is not eXcelled in this
or any other country. The Mexicans
feed it to the cows and II is said all the
screws turn into milk; also they make
a fine substitute for corn when fed to
horses and pigs, and this tornilIo or
screws is believed by the Mexicans to
be what makes the corkscrew OF a pigs
Now. on all this desert land from
/PecOs river to the Colorado in Arj
IONA, grows the brOad-leafed cacf1Is
and its allied family of other pricl1Iv
and thOrny organic grOWths ThOrns
are made by the great supply of lime
and silica on these desert wastes for /
it is a well known fact that all thornv /
vegetation will only grow in calcarous /
or lime covered regions. Now. il This /
is the case and it is desired to grow any-
of these things without thorns- it looks 1
to me as if about all that IS necessary /
is to grow them on rich, bottom lands /
that are as free as possible from, line
and silicas; also that if you wish to 1
convert the brOad-leaf cactus into n /
trailing vile. all you have to do is to !
feed your plant more lime or water
with lime On this trailing vine the
cactus pear viii grow long like a Gu
cumber-
have been struck by the great pos
sibilities OF this vine in grating to ii
other growths like that of the musk
melon watermelon. pumpkins and !
other vine-like grOwths.
Y. /. Oehoa-