Aug. i6, I9I5 Prickly-Pears as a Feed for Dairy Cows 427 



All the cows, except No. 13, were in good condition at the time of calv- 

 ing, and their general health returned to normal within a short time. 

 A small part of the afterbirth was retained for 48 hours by cow 3. 



It may be noted that all the calves were rather light in weight as com- 

 pared with their dams at the time of parturition, but only a few were 

 lacking in vigor. The calves were taken from their dams within 24 hours 

 after birth, and all received the same feed and care. With the exception 

 of the calf from cow 13, they grew normally and no trouble was experi- 

 enced from scours or from any other calf diseases. Cow 1 3 calved about 

 three weeks later than any of the others. She was in poor condition at 

 the time, as she had been getting a ration with prickly-pear as the sole 

 roughage. Her calf developed white scours and died within a short 

 time. 



The data obtained are too meager to admit of positive conclusions, 

 but it appears that prickly-pear has no great influence on the size and 

 vigor of the offspring, at least when supplemented with some dry 

 roughage. 



EFFECT OF COMMON SALT ON THE LAXATIVE PROPERTY OF PRICKLY-PEAR 



Some feeders of prickly-pear in southern Texas make a practice of 

 adding common salt to the ration, with the object of lessening its laxa- 

 tive property. The fact that prickly-pear contains a relatively small 

 quantity of sodium made it appear possible that there is some basis for 

 this belief. In order to test this matter, one cow was fed a daily ration 

 of 150 pounds of prickly-pear, 4 pounds of sorghum hay, and 4 pounds of 

 a grain mixture of corn meal, wheat bran, and cottonseed meal; another 

 cow was fed a ration of 150 pounds of prickly-pear and 4 pounds of 

 cottonseed meal. 



Sodium chlorid was scattered over the chopped prickly-pear, using 

 yi ounce to each cow on the first day and increasing the quantity at the 

 rate of }i ounce a day until the cows refused to eat the feed. One of the 

 cows refused to eat prickly-pear when 4X ounces of common salt a 

 day were added to it; the other refused her feed when 6 >^ ounces had 

 been scattered over the ration; but both animals readily ate unsalted 

 prickly-pear whenever it was offered. Both cows were fed for four days 

 on prickly-pear salted to the maximum amount for each animal. No 

 apparent change in the character of the feces was noticeable as the result 

 of feeding the salted ration. Until the maximum quantity of common 

 salt was reached, both cows seemed to have a better appetite for 

 prickly-pear, and they drank a small quantity of water each morning, 

 which they did not always do when common salt was not fed. This 

 test was repeated, using the same cows and feeding them in the same 

 manner as before, with similar results. The two tests indicate that the 

 addition of sodium chlorid to a ration of prickly-pear will have no ap- 

 preciable eff"ect on the laxative properties of the plant. 



