XIV. 



DESTRUCTION BY UTILISATION. 



Considering the importance of iinding uses for the prickly-pears in the 

 industrial arts, and the extent to which the questions involved may depend on 

 the outcome of exact scientific research, especially into the methods of isolation 

 of their constituents or derivatives and into the properties thereof, the Commis- 

 sion suggests that the Government might wisely offer a series of premiums by 

 way of encouragement of such investigations, and that these, whilst covering 

 in the aggregate a very wide field, should be severally hmited to specific inquiries, 

 none being excluded on the ground that they do not from their nature appear to 

 present immediate prospect of a profitable outcome. 



A. As Food for Man. 



The fruit of certain species of prickly-pear is used as human food in many 

 parts of the world, but more especially in Mexico and the Mediterranean littoral 

 In the former country, various food products, such as "miel" and "queso," are 

 derived from these edible fruits, which contain a high percentage of sugar. 

 These various methods of utilisation would not be of much value in compassing 

 destruction of Opuntias in Australia. They suggest, however, that an abun- 

 dant source of nutritious food, availed of in other countries, may have been 

 entirely lost sight of here. 



B. As a Fodder for Stock. 



The experience in other parts of the world, India, South Africa, the 

 Mediterranean region, and America, regarding prickly-pear as a food for stock 

 is, as a rule, similar to that in bur own country. It is generally regarded merely 

 as a roughage or as an emergency fodder which can be drawn upon during 

 times of scarcity. Owing to its high water content, and its low-feeding value, 

 some more concentrated fodder, such as lucerne, bran, cotton-seed meal, 

 oilcake, &c., should be added in order to form a balanced ration. The com- 

 position of several such rations has been pubHshed in India, Italy, the United 

 States, and elsewhere. One or two of these may be given here. For a 1,000-lb. 

 mUch cow it has been suggested in America that the ration might consist of 

 50 lb. of prickly-pear, 10 lb. wheat bran, 10 lb. of lucerne ; or of 40 lb. of 

 " pear," 10 lb. wheat bran, and 12 lb. of corn stover, the nutritive ratio being 

 1 : 5-4, which is the standard European ratio for dairy cattle. In India it has 

 been found that when the cotton-seed has been incorporated with prickly-pear 

 to the extent of constituting 6 per cent, of the weight of the mixture, that 

 not only will cattle subsist on the ration, but they will regain condition should 

 they have become poor from semi-starvation, the average daUy consumption 

 being 72 lb. of prickly-pear per 1,000 lb. live weight. In Sardinia and elsewhere 

 dry grass or foliage and small branches of certain edible trees may be added 

 to the opuntia. 



The fruit has much more nutriment than the other parts of the plant, 

 but the greater part of this is contained A^dthin the seeds, and since these pass 

 through the intestine of the animal, this supply of food material is not available. 



The amount of pear used per animal daily, along with other food, may 

 vary in parts of the United States from 40 to 70 lb. If more than this be employed 

 there is a likehhood of scouring. Some preparation is generally necessary, 

 the amount varying in the case of the different species. As a rule the stems 

 and joints are singed and chopped up, but sometimes dairy animals are turned 

 into the " pear " paddocks to feed on the scorched standing plants. In parts 

 of the United States and the Mediterranean Uttoral, certain species of prickly- 



