October, 1908.] 



313 



Edible Products. 



much injury may be done to the pas- 

 toral industry by causing some graziers 

 to relax their efforts in the eradica- 

 tion of prickly pear, on account of 

 men of standing hastily giving it a 

 fictitious value, and mayhap thus cause 

 valuable properties to be overrun with 

 the pest in a year or two, and rendered 

 worthless. In a conversation I had 

 with Mr. Maiden, the well-known bo- 

 tanist, and Curator of the Sydney 

 Botanical Gardens, a year or two ago, 

 we discussed the question of the utility 

 of prickly pear tor fodder, and he 

 assured me that analyses by himself 

 and other scientists has proved beyond 

 doubt that the earth does not produce 

 a plant with less nutriment for stock 

 than the prickly pear, and he accord- 

 ingly urged every true friend of the 

 pastoral industry, and consequently 

 patriotic son of the State, to never 

 lose an opportunity in helping on the 

 work of its eradication. "If" added 

 Mr. Maiden, " you were to put a handful 

 of pollard into a 400-gallon tank filled 

 with prickly pears, that small quantity 

 of pollard would have more life-sustain- 

 ing nutriment for stock than the whole 

 of the pears with which it had been 

 mixed." 



Mr. F. S. Bell, of Pickering, who has 

 had a life-long experience as a grazier, 

 recently put the prickly pear to a 

 thorough test, and no greater object 

 lesson was ever given in New South 

 Wales of its utter worthlessness as 

 fodder than that which resulted from 

 the comprehensive experiments of my 

 esteemed neighbour. Like all stock- 

 owners, Mr. Bell was severely affected 

 by the drought, and could have turned 

 his cattle into a large paddock covered 

 with prickly pear ; but, having had 

 forty years' experience of the plant, he 

 felt certain that trying to graze stock 

 upon it would be useless ; but he resolved 

 to thoroughly test it otherwise, and 

 prove if it were able to sustain bis 

 stock, and capable of helping them 

 through the severely dry time we were 

 experiencing. He, therefore, had consi- 

 derable quantities of the prickly pear 

 plants cut, and went to g>'eat expense 

 in erecting pots in different parts of his 

 paddocks for the thorough boiling of 

 the pears. In this way he fed 400 

 bullocks for nearly three months, but 

 they did no good on the prepared pear 

 fodder, became poorer from week to 

 week, until at last Mr. Bell had to send 

 them away to the coast to save their 

 lives. 



No better trial of the value of the 

 pear than the foregoing was ever given 

 in Australia, and no more experienced 

 or practical man to deal with the sub- 



ject under notice can be found in the 

 Commonwealth than the gentleman who 

 made the test. Yet, in the face of this 

 lifelong experience and complete test, 

 Mr. Peele will contend that cattle were 

 fattened at Womblebank on the worth- 

 less and noxious plants. I might also 

 be permitted to point out to Mr. Peele, 

 and anyone who may think with him, 

 that the Hunter River stock-owners 

 have had more experience of prickly 

 pear than the graziers of any other 

 part of Australia, inasmuch as the 

 noxious weed was first brought to Scone 

 in the thirties, and they are unanimous 

 in condemnation of the pest ; a number 

 of the most experienced of them hav- 

 ing recently had miles of prickly pear 

 to put their stock on, had they so 

 desired, but they sent their cattle to 

 the coast, knowing that it would be 

 madness to try and keep them alive on 

 the noxious plant. 



With regard to the Womblebank 

 bullock theory, an old Womblebank 

 stockman who has been recently visit- 

 ing Muswellbrook has given me what 

 seems to be a correct version of the pear- 

 fattening story, and a very reasonable 

 explanation of how the fattening of the 

 stock in question was effected. It appears 

 that at Womblebank there is an extensive 

 growth of pears that covers an area of 

 15 miles, but the vegetable products on 

 that portion of land do not consist 

 solely of prickly pears, for an exploration 

 of the locality disclosed the fact that 

 it contained patches of good grass 10, 

 15 and 20 acres in extent, which had 

 been preserved by the surrounding 

 growth of pears, that, barrier-like, had 

 kept cattle out until the great scarcity 

 of food caused the bullocks to break 

 through and reach the grass, which 

 although old and dry, was still nutritious, 

 and enabled the bullocks to preserve 

 tbeir condition when stock in other 

 parts of the run wasted away, the pears, 

 as explained, therefore getting un- 

 deserved credit for the fattening result. 



I am well aware that Mr. Peele is as 

 much interested as anyone else in the 

 welfare of the State, and strongly 

 desirous of promoting the pastoral in- 

 dustry ; but, his ill-advised, though 

 strong, advocacy of the use of the 

 prickly pear, by influencing others, 

 might some day cause an intelligent 

 Government to take steps to protect 

 the noxious weed to the general detri- 

 ment of the landholders of the country. 

 It is, therefore, to be hoped that he 

 will discontinue his advocacy of the 

 use of the pear till possessed of full 

 information in its regard, and which 

 I am sure will convince him of its 

 worthlessness. 



