Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-08-11

One of the most curious and interesting of the
cacti is the "mescaI button" or 'peyote," which
is a strong stimuiant and aays all hunger and
thirst and fatigue for the time being. The Tara
humare Indians and Huicholes of Mexico make
a cult of the "peyOte," going long pilgrimages
in search of it and employing it both incidentally
and religiously a for all bodily ills and
a powerful aid to abstinence.
In certain parts of Mexico, Sicily and else
where, the natives live almost entirely on fresh
cactus fruits when they are in season. They
grow them in gardens and orchards and often
gather them at dawn when they are coolest, al
though their temperature is always below that
of the surrounding air. They also used in
salads, preserves, picked with lemons dried fer
mented as a beverage, made into a syrup called
tuna honey" thin paste called ''melcOcha,' or
a thick paste similar to guava jelly. Even the
seeds are sometimes dried and saved to use when
the fruits are gone.
The Barbados gooseberry, used for tarts and
sauces in the West Indies, is apple-shaped and
decorated with small leaves or bracts. The plant
Pereslia aculeata, is a struggling shrub with
slender branches recurved prickes glossy green
leaves. and clusters of pale-yellow flowers.
The prickly pears or tunas, are abundant and
much used. They pearshaped globular,
weighing from an ounce to a pound; red, yellow,
or purple in color; and usually sweet, though
sometimes acid in flavor. The skin contains cus-
ters of tiny spicules or glOchidia, which very
Irritating if taken into the mouth, that care is
required in peeling them. They sometimes
called Indian figs or Barbary figs because of the
numerous small seeds which they contain. Sew
eral species Of Opuntia cultivated for their
fruits as well for their edible joints. The
flowers are large, usually yellow orange, rarely
rose red
Delicious fruits are those of Cereus pitahaya
and it's relatives. This species grows to the
height of 60 feet and its trunk reaches two and
IN ic "A
at dawn with long reed sticks armed with sew
eral prongs.
The fruits of Cereus giganteus, a handsome
cactus Of the Southwest, are also much esteemed
either In the fresh state or preserved. They are
egg-shaped, two or three inches long, green on
the outside and crimson within The strawberry
pear obtained from Cereus triangularis, is pear
shaped, bright-red, with slightly acid pulp. max
ing it desirable in the fresh condition or as an
ingredient of the pepper pot" Of the West In
dies Excellent fruits are also produced by
LemaireOcereus thurberi and certain other large
tree-cacti, and these "pitahayas" do not have the
annoying prickles found in the fruits of Opuntia.
"Garamhuas" the small currantke fruits
of Myrtillocactus. They are eaten fresh or dried
like raislns. The melon cacti produce a number
of small edible fruits resembling tiny scarlet rad
ishes or red peppers. The Mexican strawberry
found on a species of hedgehog cactus is salmon
colored, two inches in length, and very sweet in
flavor It gets its name from its numerous mi.
mute seeds. TeteZo figs important to the natives
of southern PuebIa, the fruits of a species of
Pachycereus.
Although many Of the wild cacti furnish valu
able food for and beast, it must be ad
mitted that there is room for improvement both
in the quantity and the quality of this food
have visited Mr.. Burbanks experimental grounds
in California and fully realize the difficulty OF
his task In dealing with the cacti and the impor
tance of his results. His problem was to take 3
vagrant, forbiddng plant, and divest it of its
thorns and prickles, breed out its indgestfble
woody skeleton and improve the size and flavor
of its fruits.
The fruits of the Burbank creations are over
three inches long, usually yellow or red In color
and have favors all their own, resembling those
of peaches, melons, pineapples, etc.