THE CACTUS 135 



rous animals that many of them will feed on it 

 even when the slabs are protected by spines. 



There are regions in Mexico and Hawaii where 

 the cattle feed habitually on wild species of Opun- 

 tias, even though this involves the habitual in- 

 gestion of millions of spines and spicules with 

 which the slabs are protected; resulting quite 

 often in sickness or death of the animals. 



The manager of a ranch in Hawaii, writing to 

 the editor of the "Butchers' and Stockgrowers' 

 Journal," of California, under date of April 17, 

 1905, declares that on his ranch there is a pad- 

 dock of 1,200 acres covered very thickly with 

 cactus or prickly pears, with only a slight growth 

 of Bermuda grass. In this paddock, he tells us, 

 are pastured all the year round 400 head of cattle 

 and about 700 hogs. 



For both cattle and hogs the cactus furnishes 

 the chief food. The hogs receive only a slight 

 ration of corn, fed to keep them tame, and for the 

 rest live exclusively on the young leaves and fruit 

 of the cactus. 



Both cattle and hogs thrive wonderfully. But 

 when the cattle are killed, it is found that the 

 walls of their first stomach are filled with myriads 

 of small spines. The manager adds that he has 

 never known an animal to die from the effects 

 of these spines. This is a half dwarf, partially 



