Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1878 — Virtues of the Cactus. [ARTICLE]

Virtues of the Cactus.

No one who has traveled In the Northern States of Mexico, where grass for long distances is. sometimes unknown, can have failed to observe that but for the cactus, freighting through those sterile counties would be impossible, as it furnishes the best of nourishment* io the famished cattje, who find neither water Mfr grass in those wilds. The cactus on being ent off and roasted on a long stick over a fire, so that the thorns becomes softened and do not hurt the mouth of the cattle, is eaten voraciously by them. Men who have spent their lives in these regions told me that with only occasionally a little grass, cattle could not only subsist on them but also draw heavy loads, feeding only at night, doing without water for four and five days.'! myself have proved the truth of this assertion, as owa trip a couple of years ago in the State of Coahuila we'were three days without water or grisa for our stock, and the oxen m well- as mules ate the roasted cactus with great relish. The Mexican name for this plant is noysal. In the central State of Mexico a large variety exists, which bears a nig. purple-colored, pear-shaped fruit, which is very much esteemed by the

people of that o<mntrf. Iqhthg State of Oaxaca and ail the soutibern hWH land Mexican States the oqnhineal Insect is raised on it, and no other vegetable prodnrthaayet been found Sat grows with less care in any place provided it be dry, as it never flourishes in tbs lowlands, that would answer the purpose. There exist, I believe, over fifty varieties of the plant that will not grow at an altitude over 8,000 feet in the central or northern latitudes of Mexico, nor will it flourish in timbered land.—Letter in Sall Lake Tribune.