Edible Products. 



534 



[June, 1909. 



prevail, prickly-pear is considered a 

 valuable fodder plant, and cultivated as 

 such. In Australia, rewards have been 

 offered for its eradication. In New 

 South Wales, where thousands of acres 

 are rendered useless, a special tenure of 

 the infested land is given if only the 

 occupier will rid the soil of its unwelcome 

 crop. Periodically the Press, both lay 

 and scientific, publish alarmist articles 

 of the spread of the pest, and many re- 

 commendations are made of methods for 

 its destruction and eradication, in some 

 cases estimated to cost much more 

 than the captial value of the land. The 

 matter has even engaged the attention 

 of the great Burbank, who, after many 

 years' experimenting, evolved aspiceless 

 pear.which is said to possess consider- 

 able value as a fodder, but which, un- 

 fortunately, is also reported to have 

 reverted to its original "spiny" condi- 

 tion. 



All efforts at eradication at reason- 

 able cost having failed, it is a matter 

 for serious consideration whether 

 further experiments with prickly-pear 

 should not be in the direction of render- 

 ing it of some value as a fodder plant, 

 and in this connection it is of interest to 

 learn what has been done in other 

 countries. 



The United States. 



The Feeding Value.— The cactus pro- 

 blem is one to which the experts of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture have devoted much attention. In 

 Bulletin No. 102 of the United States 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, an attempt 

 is made to determine in what propor- 

 tion cactus should be fed with other 

 foods to produce a balanced ration. 

 For this purpose, it is necessary to know 

 the amount of digestible nutriments 

 contained in the cactus, as well as those 

 of the food or foods with which it is to 

 be fed. This has been determined ,for 

 most foods, but, unfortunately, there are 

 as yet no such data for the cacti. By 

 assuming, however, that this digestibi- 

 lity coefficent is the same as that of 

 immature green mealie fodder, the 

 authors find the nutriments in Opuntia 

 lindheimeri to be: Protein, 0'47 per- 

 cent.; fat, 0'26 per cent.; carbohydrates, 

 7*85 percent. This being the case, it is 

 added that cactus would have a nutri- 

 tive ratio of 1*18, a ratio which, according 

 to the best authorities, would prohibit 

 its use alone for any feeding standard. 

 The nutritive ratio for a standard ration, 

 it is pointed out, varies from 1: 4 to 1 : 12, 

 depending upon the age, character, and 

 kind of animal to be fed, as well as the 

 object of the feeding ; that is, whether 

 it is desired to produce work, flesh, or 



milk. If the object of the feeding is to 

 produce milk, a cow giving a heavy 

 yield of milk should, according to the 

 best authorities, be fed about 25 to 30 

 lb. a day of organic matter, contain- 

 ing from P8 to 2 lb. of digestible 

 protein ; from 04 to 7 lb. of diges- 

 tible fat ; and 11 to 13 lb. of diges- 

 tible carbo-hydrates ; making a nutritive 

 ration of from about 1 : 5'5 to 1 : 7. 

 If a cow requiring a ration of this 

 kind should eat cactus alone, it would 

 take 160 lb. to furnish the fats and 

 carbo-hydrates, and an additional 240 

 lb. to furnish sufficient protein ; and 

 since, to avoid scouring, a cow should 

 probably not be fed to exceed 50 or 

 60 lb. of cactus a day, it may be readily 

 seen how impossible it would be for a 

 milk cow to get even a one-sided ration 

 from cactus alone. A ration of 40 lb. 

 of cactus, with 10 lb. of wheat bran and 

 12 lb, of mealie stover would, it is stated, 

 furnish the nutriments in somewhat 

 near the proper proportion. In a ration 

 of this kind, the cow would get 21-6 

 lb. of organic matter, containing P68 

 lb. of protein, 11*82 lb. of carbo-hydrates, 

 and 0-49 lb. of fat, which is in a ratio 

 of 1 : 7-7. 



Feeding to Stock.— Practically, all the 

 Mexican prickly-pears are fed to stock 

 to a greater or less extent, especially 

 those growing where the fodder is the 

 most scarce, but there is only one cylin- 

 drical-jointed species (Opuntia imbri- 

 cetia)which is used to any appreciable 

 extent. The authors state that their 

 experience has shown that Cereus 

 giganteus is readily eaten by cattle 

 when chopped up, but add that they 

 know of no feeding having been con- 

 ducted with it on any commercial scale. 

 Echinocactus orcuttii, which is typical 

 of a considerable group of species, is 

 occasionally fed in Lower California. 

 It is only in rare instances, however, 

 that any great quantity of feed can be 

 secured from cacti, outside of the genus 

 Opuntia, and the greater part of the 

 feed in this genus is stated to be pro- 

 duced by the flat-jointed forms. There 

 are about five species in the cylindrical- 

 jointed group which have been fed with 

 some success : 0. imbricata, O. arbores- 

 cens, O. spinosior, O. julgida, and O. 

 prolifera. These species constitute the 

 best of the cylindrical-jointed group ; 

 and of these, O. fulgida and O. imbri- 

 cata are said to be, probably, the most 

 valuable. 



Mexico. 



Human Food. — In the course of another 

 Bulletin, issued from the Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, New Mexico, some 

 particulars are given of the use of the 



