thorns, was the only obstacle to a greater 

 use, for otherwise the forage properties 

 of the wild, thorny cactus are excellent 

 and most satisfactory to the stockmen. 



A sort of gasoline blow-torch has been 

 used with considerable success, particular- 

 ly in the southwestern portion of the 

 United States and in Australia. Boiling, 

 as well as singeing by other methods, has 

 been resorted to and with such success 

 that many thousands of cattle and sheep 

 have been saved from certain starvation 

 during droughts. 



However, no method has been wholly 

 satisfactory, as it seems to be utterly im- 

 possible to get rid of all the thorns and 

 do it on an economical commercial scale. 



In North Africa, according to M. A. 

 Johanne, in the Journal D'Agriculture 

 Tropicale, (Paris), the thorny cactus is 

 considered a forage plant of great im- 

 portance in the feeding of stock. The wild 

 cactus has been taken under cultivation, 

 and plantations have been cultivated for 



a period as long as fifty years, and the 

 plants are still vigorous and productive. 

 By adding a very small quantity of 

 chopped straw to the slabs, excellent re- 

 sults are had in feeding beef cattle, milch 

 cows, goats, etc. 



From Hawaii the manager of one of 

 the largest ranches writes : 



Haleakala Ranch, 

 Makawao, Maui, T. H., 

 April 17, 1905. 

 Editor Butchers' and Stock Growers' 



Journal: 



I read with much interest in your issue of the 

 30th ultimo the article on "Cactus-Fed Beef." 



On this ranch we have one paddock of twelve 

 hundred acres covered very thickly with cactus 

 or prickly pear; there is also a slight growth of 

 Bermuda grass growing. In this paddock are 

 pastured, all the year round, four hundred head 

 of cattle and about seven hundred hogs. The 

 cattle only get water when; it rains, this is, 

 during the months of December and January; the 

 other ten months they subsist entirely and solely 

 on the fruit a,nd young leaves of the cactus, 

 which they help themselves to. It is a remark- 

 able fact that during the dry months of the year 



Using the Gasoline Torch to Singe the Thorns From the Wild Thorny Cactus so the Cactus Could 



Be Fed to Live Stock. An Expensive Process, But Practiced by Many on 



Account of the Food Value of the Cactus 



