PRICKLY-PEARS AS A FEED FOR DAIRY COWS 



By T. E. Woodward, Dairy Husbandman, and W. F. Turner, Assistant Dairy Hus- 

 bandman, Bureau of Atiimal Industry, and David Griffiths, Agriculturist, Office 

 of Farm, Management, Bureau of Plant Indtistry 



INTRODUCTION 



Prickly-pears {Opuntia spp.) have been fed to cattle for many years 

 in Texas and Mexico, but they have formed only a small part of the ration, 

 and their value as a feed has not been fully appreciated. In the wild 

 state these cacti make a rank growth, and experiments show that they 

 respond readily to cultivation, two years' growth from old stumps 

 yielding as high as io6 tons an acre a year. The average annual yield 

 at Brownsville, Tex., under ordinary cultural conditions for the first 

 two years' growth from cuttings was about 40 tons and at San Antonio, 

 Tex., about 25 tons an acre. The second two years' growth from the 

 cut-over stumps would be still larger. As irrigation of these plants 

 is unnecessary, the cost of growing the crop is very low considering the 

 tonnage produced ; and although prickly-pears contain about 90 per cent 

 of water, the production of dry material is large. Since there are no 

 doubts as to the practicability of growing prickly-pears as a farm crop, 

 the only other vital consideration is their feeding value. If it can be 

 shown that they possess sufficient nutrients and have no injurious effect 

 on the animals, there is no reason why these cacti should not come 

 into general use in all sections where they can be readily grown. 



One of the writers (Griffiths, 5) ^ conducted a feeding trial for 67 days 

 with two cows at the ranch of Mr. Alexander Sinclair, San Antonio, 

 Tex., and found that these cacti were a palatable and nutritious feed for 

 short periods and that the flavor of the milk was in no way impaired. 

 He also reported the feeding of 20 steers on the ranch of Mr. T. A. Cole- 

 man, Encinal, Tex., with a ration of prickly-pear and cottonseed meal 

 for 105 days. Each pound of gain required 55.03 pounds of prickly- 

 pear and 2.5 pounds of cottonseed meal, which was a very satisfactory 

 showing. 



Hare (7), of New Mexico, conducted five digestion trials, with two 

 steers in each trial, in which he showed that when the prickly-pear was 

 fed with cured fodders or with grains, the digestibihty of both was 

 increased. The five rations that he used were as follows: Prickly-pear 

 {O. lindheimeri) , prickly-pear {O. laevis), prickly-pear and alfalfa, prickly- 

 pear and cottonseed meal, and alfalfa hay. 



' Reference is made by number to " Literature cited," p. 434. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. IV, No. s 



Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Aug. 16, 1915 



96502°— 15 3 (405) 



A— 16 



