THE NEW OPUNTIAS 



the amount of water held by the cacti in wet 

 and dry seasons, running as low as 60.99 per 

 cent and as high as 95.5 per cent. On the 

 point of a balanced ration for stock, with the 

 wild cactus as a factor, the bulletin holds that, 

 so far as has been determined, a ration of the 

 wild cacti for a cow would require 40 pounds 

 of cactus with 10 pounds of wheat bran and 

 12 pounds of corn stover, giving the cow 

 21.16 pounds of organic matter, containing 

 1.68 pounds of protein, 11.82 pounds of carbo- 

 hydrates and 0.49 pounds of fat. 



It is shown in the bulletin that at a recent 

 test, conducted by the Bureau of Plant Indus- 

 try at Encinal, Texas, a ration of prickly pear 

 and cottonseed meal was fed to a bunch of 

 steers for one hundred and five days with a 

 gain of one and three-fourths pounds of flesh 

 per day at a cost of only three and one-third 

 cents. "Any ration of these two foods," the 

 bulletin says, "that would secure this gain 

 each day, would contain an excess of proteids 

 over an amount necessary for a balanced 

 ration. Fortunately, however, an excess of 

 proteids can be utilized in serving the func- 

 tion of the carbohydrates in the animal body, 



387 



