428 



Journal of Agricultural Research 



Vol. IV, No. 5 



EFFECT OF FEEDING PRICKLY-PEAR ON THE QUANTITY OF WATER DRUNK 



BY DAIRY COWS 



Prickly-pear grows readily in semiarid regions, where the water supply 

 for cattle is often a serious problem. It has such a high water content 

 that it was thought to be of interest to ascertain the quantity of 

 water drunk by animals fed with prickly-pear. In November, 191 1, a 

 short test was conducted for this purpose; the amount of water drunk 

 by the different animals was recorded for a period of three days, the cows 

 being watered twice daily. Later, in May and June, 191 2, while con- 

 ducting some digestion trials, the quantities of water drunk by the 

 animals used in these trials were also weighed. The results are given in 

 Table XVII. 



Table XVII. — Effect of feeding prickly-pear upon the amount of water drunk by dairy 



cows 



November, 191 1 . . . . 



Do 



Do 



Do 



May, 1912 



May and June, 191 2 



June, 1912 



May and June, 1912 



Heavy prickly-pear. . 

 Medium prickly-pcar 



Sorghum hay 



Prickly-pear alone 



Sorghum hay 



Medium prickly-pear 

 Heavy prickly-pear. . 

 Prickly-pear alone 



Average 

 daily 



amount 



of water 

 drunk 



by each 

 cow. 



95 

 44-3 



The warmer weather at the time the digestion trials were made caused 

 an increased consumption of water by the hay-fed cows, but not by 

 those heavily fed with prickly-pear. The results of these two trials 

 indicate that prickly-pear may be of special value in case of shortage 

 of water. It is possible that animals fed a heavy or an entire roughage 

 ration of prickly-pear can subsist for a considerable time without 

 water. During the 3-day trial the cow getting a roughage ration 

 entirely of prickly-pear drank no water, and the heavy-ration prickly- 

 pear group drank but a small quantity. During the longer period the 

 cows on entire prickly-pear and heavy prickly-pear rations drank very 

 little water, although it was freely offered to them. 



EFFECT OF NORTHERS ON COWS FED WITH PRICKLY-PEAR 



Southern Texas, where this experiment was conducted, is subject 

 during the winter months to sudden and decided drops in temperature, 

 accompanied by strong north winds, locally called "northers." During 

 the early part of the winter it was noticed that the cows receiving the 

 heavier prickly-pear ration were apparently more sensitive to these 



