The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-08-27
AlzLZAGM

One of the most curious and interesting of the
cacti rs the "mescal button" or "peyote," which
is strong stimuant and allays 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 on long pgrimages
in search of it and employing 1t both incidentally
and religiously as a cure for all bodily Ills ana
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. Ihey
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 are also used In
Salads preserves, picked with lemons dried. fer
mented as beverage made into syrup called
t.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 gone.
The Barbados gooseberry, used for tarts and
sauces in the West Indies, is appleshaped and
decorated with small leaves or bracts The plant
Pereskia aculeata, is a struggling shrub with
slender branches recurved prickles, glossy-green
leaves and clusters of pale-yellow flowers.
The prickly pears or tunas, are abundant and
much used. They are pear-shaped or globular
weighing from an ounce to pound; red yellow
or purple in color; and usually sweet, though
sometimes acid in flavor. The skin contains clus-
Irritating il taken into the mouth so that care is
required in peeling them. They are sometimes
called Indian figs or Barbary figs because of the
numerous small seeds which they contain. Sew
eral species Of Opuntia are cultivated for their
fruits as we'll as for their edible joints. The
flowers are large, usually yellow or orange rarely
rose or red
Delicious fruits are those Of Cereus ptahaya
and its relatives. This species grows to the
height of 60 feet and its trunk reaches two and
n half feet in diameter The fruit is gathered
at dawn with long reed sticks armed with sew
eral prongs.
The fruits of Cereus giganteus, handsome
cactus of the Southwest, 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
near. obtained from Cereus trianguaris, is pear
shaped. bright-red, with slightly acid pulp, maxi
ing III 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 prckles found in the fruits Of Opunta.
ssGarambuas" are the small currantlike fruits
of Myrtillocactus They are eaten fresh drted
like rasins The melon cacti produce a numbey
of small edible fruits resembling tiny scarlet rad
ishes or red peppers The Mexican strawberry,
found on species Of hedgehog cactus, is salmon
colered, 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 Puebla, ATE the fruits of species OF
Pachycereus.
Although many of the wild cacti furnish vau.
able food for and beast, it must De ad
&. mitted that there is room for improvement both
In the quantity and the quality of this food.
have visited Mr.. Burbank's experimental grounds
in California and fully realize the difficulty Of
his task in dealing with the cacti and the impor
lance Of his results. His problem was to take q
vagrant, forbidding plant, and divest 1t Of its
thorns and PICKLES breed out its indigestiblt
woody skeleton and improve the size and flavor
of its fruits.
The fruits of the Burbank creations are ovel
three inches long. usually yellowsor red in colsr
and have aavors all their own, resembling those
Of peaches. melons. pineapples. etc.