ON CACTUS AS CATTLE FOOD 



hay, bran, and other carbonaceous and especially 

 dry foods, like straw, hay, and the like. The 

 Opuntia slabs may be fed as an exclusive diet, and 

 in this case farm animals will have no craving for 

 water. But in fact the cactus is not a complete 

 food, and it is always more economical to feed 

 some dry food with it, alfalfa hay being one of 

 the best, to complete and round it out as a 

 nitrogenous diet. 



Almost without exception, herbivorous animals 

 are fond of the cactus. Cattle prefer it to almost 

 any other food, and it makes a superior quality of 

 beef, and exceedingly rich milk, which is not sur- 

 prising considering the succulence of the cactus 

 and the fact that it contains a relatively large per- 

 centage of the salts of sodium, potassium, and 

 magnesium. 



A very superior quality of pork is produced 

 from pigs fed on the cactus fruit. The fruit is used 

 also with success as a poultry food. The plant has 

 been fed to horses, which, however, are said as a 

 rule not to relish it until they become accustomed 

 to it. 



But the merits of the cactus as a food for ani- 

 mals have too long been recognized to require 

 extended comment. The wild thorny cactus is 

 frequently prepared for stock feeding by burning 

 off its spines, and in Australia the leaves and fruit 



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