50 



one-half bushel of seed per acre, and I find the most spotted stand I ever saw, and of 

 the whole 200 acres I will get a crop of hay on not to exceed 50 acres. My first sow- 

 ing of about 80 acres was commenced about March 22, and finished about the 1st of 

 April. This was coming up thickly when the freeze of the 9th of April came, and I 

 am convinced that all seeds then sprouting were frozen out and killed. The sowings 

 during April did better, but anything like a reasonable stand is found only on moist 

 places. The reason for this is" the fact that not a drop of rain fell from April 

 26 to June 6. My worst catch was on comparatively clean land, an oat field, in which 

 the oats had been mostly killed by the winter. My best catch was on a grass sod. I 

 found that a freeze or a drought catching the plants before the roots have penetrated 

 the soil are equally disastrous. On some meadows of previous sowings, I am now 

 cutting a heavy crop of almost pure Lespedeza. The reverses of this year wili not 

 loosen the hold of the grass on my estimation in the least. 



Cactus, Opuntia Englemanni, and others. 



A number of species of Cactus, mainly of the genus Opuntia, and 

 commonly called Nopal or Prickly Pear, are used as food for cattle 

 and sheep in the dry regions of Texas and westward, where the ordi- 

 nary forage plants fail. In the natural state cattle do not often touch 

 it, unless driven by hunger, except while the new growth is young 

 and tender. Sheep eat it without preparation more readily than cattle, 

 and for them the plants are sometimes merely cut down so as to be 

 within reach. More often the herder passes along and clips ofl 

 a portion of each flat joint, so that the sheep can enter their noses 

 without coming in contact with the spines. For cattle, it is customary 

 to singe off the spines over a brisk blaze. 



Considering the extent to which these plants are eaten by stock, even 

 in their natural state, it is remarkable that so few evil effects have been 

 observed. A large majority of those who mention their use state that 

 no injurious results have come to their notice. 



A sufficient number of iustances of injury are reported, however, to 

 show that compelling stock to eat them unprepared is cruel, if not un- 

 profitable and to render it probable that the suffering and loss on this 

 account have not been fully observed. A number of instances are re- 

 ported of cattle having died from the accumulation of the spines in the 

 mouth and stomach. The jaws and neck sometimes become swollen 

 and inflamed from the presence of the spines. The tongue has been 

 known to become so filled with them as to be rendered unfit for food. 

 How this amount of injury can occur and not affect the growth of the 

 animal it is difficult to see. The injury to sheep is mostly confined to 

 the nose and lips, and is not considered very serious, " as the needles 

 soon fester and come out." 



The*succulent nature of the plant in the growing season sometimes 

 has too great a laxative effect, but if other fodder is fed with it this 

 tendency is rather beneficial than otherwise. Notwithstanding these 

 difficulties, however, the Cactus, when properly prepared, is a valuable 

 fodder plant, and is destined to come into more general use in the warm 

 arid parts of the country. 



