408 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [June 2, 1920. 



^ast have had a man engaged in cutting and roasting pears for the horned cattle on the 

 common, there being little or no grass thereon, owing to the dry weather ; and the said 

 cattle V>y being thus fed have kept in fair condition. 



Experience accordingly shows that prickly pears make a useful but inferior fodder, 

 even when prepared as described, but can be used with advantage in time of drought as 

 a substitute for better food, cattle, like mankind, being able to, to some extent, adapt 

 themselves to circumstances in the matter of sustenance. — Pierce Healy, Council Clerk, 

 8th January, 1906. 



3. 1 find that tliis j^lant was much used as fodder during the drought of 1902, and is 

 now being used by many, owmg to prevailing dry weather and absence of natural grasses 

 and herbage. On inquiring from those who are using it, I find that it is a last resource ; 

 in itself it has little or no value as a fodder plant. Cattle will eat when compelled to by 

 hunger, but, being of a greasy nature, it cannot be properly masticated by horned cattle. 

 A local dairyman, by boiling, then chopping and mixing with lucerne or oaten chaff, is 

 using a considerable quantity daily, approximately 12 cwt., and with this mixture is 

 feeding a small dair}' herd for the supply of fresh milk locally. 



I interviewed three graziers, Mr. J. C. White, of Edenglassie, Mr. C. E. Doyle, of 

 Dartmouth, and Mr. Parbury, of Satur. These men used the pear rather extensively 

 during the disastrous drought of 1902, and are unanimous that as a fodder plant it has 

 a very low value, and is used as a last resource. It helps to keep stock alive, but if 

 they are weak their digestive organs will not allow of this food being used with good 

 results. — 0. G. NoRroN, District Assistant Engineer, Muswellbrook, 19th January, 1906. 



The attitude of the Hunter River stockowners, who " have had more ex- 

 perience of prickly pear than the graziers of any other part of Austraha," is 

 recounted in an article by the late Mr. R. T. Keys, of Muswellbrook, in the 

 Sydney Stock and Station Journat (reference mislaid) and reproduced in 

 the Queensland Agricultural Journal for August, 1908, page 61. It is con- 

 demnatory of the use of the pear as fodder. 



The following two reports are, however, more favourable : — 



1. In the A rp-i cultural Gazette for June, 1897, Mr. J. O'Shea, of Singleton, protested 

 against the Government ordering the destruction of the prickly pear, and stated how 

 valuable a supply would be during the then droughty time. 



2. I fed eighty-five cows for three months this summer on prickly pear ajtd a very 

 little bran and they did well on it. 



I was peremptorily ordered by Government to destroy my prickly pear. I boiled it 

 all down for my cows and it was my most valuable fodder. I had three 400-gallon tanks 

 for boiling it, and besides my cows had seventy pigs which had nothing else for that 

 time, and they did famously on it. My bulls kept in show order — with a little bran 

 mixed. 



The two pests, pri(;]ily pear and Aristida ramosa [a coarse grass, J.H.M."], carried my 

 stock through the worst of the drought, and I don't know what I should have done 

 without them. I must say a good word for them. — Sylvester Browne, Minembah, 

 Whittingham, 1st January, 190S. 



Mr. Browne was the introducer of Rhodes grass and other grasses to 

 Australia, and one of the most distinguished of our experimenters with fodder 

 plants. ^ 



Further accounts of prickly pear as a fodder are available from two farmers 

 in the Carapbelltown-Camden district. 



1. In 1895, Mr. J. F. Gorus, of Eschol Park, Minto, near Campbelltown, 

 used the prickly pear on the property, boiled with meat and refuse, for pigs, 

 combining tliis with pear-clearing operations. (See this Gazette for October, 

 1896, page 658.) Pear was used as an auxiliary food for nearly 200 pigs for 

 several months. Mr. Gorus speaks favourably of his experiments — he fed 

 his pigs and exterminated the pear. 



