CoLENSO. — On Tico Peculiar South American Plants. 329 



enter their noses without coming in contact with the spines. 

 For cattle it is customary to singe off the spines over a brisk 

 blaze. 



" Considering the extent to which these plants are eaten 

 by stock, even in their natural state, it is remarkable that so 

 fev\r evil effects have been observed. A large majority of those 

 who have mentioned their use state that no injurious results 

 have come to their notice. 



"A sufficient number of instances of injury are reported, 

 however, to show that compelling stock to eat them unpre- 

 pared is cruel, if not unprofitable, and to render it probable 

 that the suffering and loss on this account have not been fully 

 observed. A number of instances are reported of cattle 

 having died from the accumulation of the spines in the mouth 

 and stomach. The jaws and neck sometimes become swollen 

 and inflamed from the presence of the spines. The tongue 

 has been known to become so filled with them as to be rendered 

 unfit for food. How this amount of injury can occur and not 

 affect the growth of the animal it is difficult to see. The in- 

 jury to sheep is mostly confined to the nose and lips, and is 

 not considered very serious, * as the needles soon fester and 

 come out.' 



" The succulent nature of the plant in tlie growing- season 

 sometimes has too great a laxative effect, but if other fodder 

 is fed with it this tendency is rather beneficial than otherwise. 

 Notwithstanding these difficulties, however, the Cactus, when 

 properly prepared, is a valuable fodder-plant, and is destined 

 to come into more general use in the warm, ai'id parts of the 

 countvy."— {Bulletin, No. 3, p. 50.) 



J. A. Avent, Bexar County, Southern Texas : — 

 " I have been feeding prickly pear for thirty years. It is 

 an excellent food for cattle if fed with fodder or hay of any 

 kind. When not too full of sap it may be fed alone. There 

 is nothing that cattle like better than prickly pear when 

 accustomed to it. The old stumps, with a little corn, will 

 fatten cattle very fast. We burn off the thorns in feeding it, 

 but most stock-raisers do not. The apples ripen about the 

 1st July, and are eaten by almost everything. Hogs get fat 

 enough upon them to render into lard when the crop is good, 

 and it seldom fails." 



A. J. Spencer, Uvalde, Texas : — 



" It is eaten by cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs. They eat it 

 mainly as found in the range, though sometimes the thorns 

 are scorched off. It is considered one of the best native forage- 

 plants. It is a partial substitute for water for all stock that 

 eat it. The only injury I have known to result from eating it 

 has been to sheep, and then only when eaten while frozen." 



