BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 341 



Some of the results thus far indicate that cactus can be successfully 

 fed to dairy cattle, that it is palatable, and that some cows weighing 

 800 pounds will consume as much as 150 pounds daily. It has a lax- 

 ative effect when fed in large quantities, and as a sole roughage it is 

 unsatisfactor3\ Ten pounds of cactus seems to be worth about as 

 much as 1 pound of sorghum hay. It apparently does not affect the 

 flavor of milk or butter, but imparts a yellow color to butter. When 

 fed alone, it may lead to fatal results on account of the amount of 

 coarse fiber it contains, causing a mechanical stoppage in the intes- 

 tinal tract. One man can singe 1 ton of cactus in an hour, using 1^ 

 gallons of gasoline. The 2-3"ear-old growth of cactus from which 

 we are feeding yields at the rate of 180 to 190 tons an acre. Cattle 

 fed highly ob cactus yield milk containing a smaller percentage of 

 butter fat than those receiving only dry feed. The indications thus 

 far are that in dry sections where the cactus thrives it may be used 

 to advantage in feeding dain,' cattle. 



During the preceding fiscal year a preliminary experiment was 

 carried on at Wiley, Va., to determine the value of cornstalk extract 

 as a feed for dairy cattle. During the past year this experiment was 

 continued at Annapolis, Md., with 8 animals from the Naval Acad- 

 emy herd, which were fed for a period of 120 days. This experiment 

 will be continued on the experimental farm at Beltsville to determine 

 the digestibility of this product. The results thus far show that 

 cornstalk extract is worth about $11 a ton as compared with other 

 feeds at market prices. This extract is a by-product resulting from 

 the preparation of cornstalks for paper making, which work is being 

 carried on in the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Experimental work at the Beltsville farm will be developed as 

 rapidly as conditions will permit. Some of the work already started 

 or planned is as follows : An experiment in inbreeding, for which 16 

 grade and scrub cows of promiscuous breeding and a Guernsey bull 

 nave been purchased, the object being to determine whether or not a 

 scrub or grade herd can be satisfactorily improved by breeding all of 

 the heifers from the original cow back to their own sire, and after 

 that to pursue the ordinary methods of line breeding; a comparison 

 of the open-shed stabling of cows with stabling in the ordinary type 

 of dairy barn ; a study of silage kept in a stave silo as compared with 

 that kept in a concrete silo; a study of the effect of succulent feed 

 upon the percentage of fat in milk; a study of the effect of feeding 

 sour milk to calves; a study of the use of silage as compared with 

 soiling crops, including the cost of both feeds; the continuation of a 

 study of stable ventilation with a view to determining, if possible, the 

 amount of ventilation that is actually necessary for an animal; a 

 study of the effect of the palntability and quantity of a ration upon 

 its digestibility; and a study of the essential differences between good 

 and poor animals. 



NAVAL ACADEMY DAIRY. 



Mention has already been made of the dairy established by the 

 United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Md., to supply* that 

 institution with milk. The dairy has now been in operation for 

 over a year, and the health record of the midshipmen has Ikhmi 

 greatly improved, as previously stated. The plant is not quite com- 

 plete as yet ; one wing of the cow stable is unfinishod and some addi- 

 tional animals have to be purchased for the herd. The financial out- 



