OCTOBER 15, 1915 



873 



FOULTEY DEPAETMENT 



ifank'incl neUfwr knows of iter enjoys two greater 

 food blessings than fresh eggs and sweet milk. — 

 American I'oultru World. 



SPINFLKSS-CACTUS FRUIT; ALSO SPINELESS- 

 CACTUS SLABS AS POULTRY FOOD. 



Our good friend G. B. Woodberry, of 

 Glendale, Cal., sends us two fruits, each 

 about the size of a goose egg". I pronounc- 

 ed the quality about like that of a good 

 sweet apple, and, in fact, they are rather 

 too sweet for my taste. I suppose there are 

 other varieties that are more tart; for in- 

 stance, the fruit of the wild cactus found in 

 Florida is, some of it, quite tart. The 

 sweet fruit might exactly suit some people; 

 and in regard to feeding poultiy on cactus 

 leaves or slabs, friend Woodberry sends us 

 a clipping from the Los Angeles Times. 

 This gives an account of feeding three dif- 

 ferent cages of poultry on cactus alone — 

 no water. You see, the idea is, that the 

 cactus supplies sufficient water of itself. 

 You may remember that we have mentioned 

 before that cows and pigs would get along 

 very well Avithout water if they have plenty 

 of cactus. I believe the poultry in the three 

 experiments were confined. Four pullets 

 laid two eggs a day Avhen fed on cactus 

 (12^4 lbs.), and nothing else, for five days. 

 Three sitting hens in store windows, fed 

 only cactus (10%: lbs.), no water, com- 

 menced laying, and gained half a pound in 

 weight. Three pullets in a similar store 

 window began laying, and gained I14 lbs. 

 Amount of cactus consumed, 14 lbs. The 

 account of the experiment ends with the 

 following : 



CxncluMons. — Spineless forage cactus, fed to three 

 sets of chickens for over a week, showed that those 

 laying continued tx) lay, and those which had been 

 sittins: commenced to lay and gained in weight. 



While the above was on only a small scale, 

 it demonstrates that poultry- can live and 

 do tolerably well on cactus alone and noth- 

 ing else. Very likely, if the experiment had 

 been continued for a longer period the 

 above might not be as favorable. But if it 

 actually transpires that I can grow cactus 

 in my garden to feed chickens, so as to get 

 eggs without being obliged to purchase any 

 grain at all, it would be a big achievement. 

 Tf cactus alone will enable the chickens to 

 lay eggf^, and increase in weight in confine- 

 ment, what would it do if the chickens had 

 a range of two or three acres as ours have? 

 Today is Oct. 2, and I am looking forward 

 to the time when I can go back to my Flor- 

 ida garden to raise cactus for my chickens. 



SORKHEAn AMONG CHICKENS, 



We clip the following from the Florida 

 Groxcer : 



T wish to warn the Grower family of readers to 

 the danger of " sorehead," and the necessity for 

 ))ruventive measures if they wish to avoid it. Now 

 is the time to commence preventive measures. It 

 will be too late after the trouble is upon you. Be- 

 gin in .Tuly, and feed throughout the summer months 

 the following: 



One tablespoonfnl of sulphur to every twelve or 

 fifteen fowls, mixed with the mash feed once a week. 

 ^Vltcrnate with epsom salts, same quantity for same 

 number of birds, preferably mixed with a wet mash, 

 so as to insure the birds getting it. It may be 

 given in tlie drinking-water, but there is always 

 danger of some of the birds refusing it, which is 

 avoided when given in the wet mash. Giving the 

 sulphur, say on Tuesdays and the epsom salts on 

 Fridays, will save untold worry and trouble later 

 on. The late-hatched chicks are the most suscepti- 

 ble to sorehead. By no means overlook them. You 

 will save yourselves a world of trouble, as this 

 disease is especially prevalent here in late summer 

 and early fall; but) I have yet to hear of a single 

 case where this treatment was given in advance. 

 Better be safe than sorry. 



As a rule I am opposed to giving drugs 

 to chickens; but epsom salts I find recom- 

 mended by so many of the poultry journals 

 I am forced to believe there is something in 

 it. I suppose the explanation would be that 

 sorehead is caused or at least is predisposed 

 by indigestion; and the ej^som salts would 

 prove a sort of physic to cleanse the diges- 

 tive apparatus. Sulphur is also a recog- 

 nized anti-fungus. Just consider the re- 

 sults that are obtained by the lime-sulphur 

 spraying used on fruits and vegetables. 



COTTON-SEED MEAL EOR POULTRY, ETC. 



In testing different fertilizers in our 

 Florida garden we used quite a little cotton- 

 seed meal with good results : and once or 

 twice the chickens got at it and seemed to 

 eat it with avidity. Wesley, however, as- 

 sured me it would kill chickens. He said 

 his former employer lost quite a lot of them 

 by giving them cotton-seed meal; and I 

 have heard from others doAvn in Florida 

 that cotton-seed meal would kill chickens. 

 Later on I noticed that the matter was be- 

 ing discussed in the Florida papers. Some 

 of our experiment stations have taken the 

 matter up ; but, as nearly as I can make 

 out, the general conclusion seems to be that 

 cotton-seed meal is a safe and profitable 

 poultry food providing it is mixed with 

 bran, corn meal, or middlings so that it will 

 aive not over one-fourth cotton-seed meal 

 in proportion to the other feed. For small 

 chickens I think one-tenth of cotton-seed 

 meal has been recommended. 



