Bclible Products. 



[June, 1909. 



Cultivating the Pear. -The next line 

 of investigation demanded appeared to 

 be upon the rate of growth of the plant. 

 A peculiar condition exists in portions 

 of Southern Texas. Prickly-pear origi- 

 nally grew abundantly in the vicinity of 

 San Antonio and some of the other 

 larger towns, but now there is, practi- 

 cally, none of it to be found. Dairymen 

 have all but exterminated the plant in 

 their search for winter succulence. It 

 is in the vicinity of these towns that 

 the demand exists now for such a food. 

 Experiments were, therefore, started in 

 San Antonio. 



Three years' growth was secured upon 

 the experimental plantation at San 

 Antonio. This is the first instance, in 

 that country at least, where this plant 

 has been grown under field conditions. 

 The practice had been to thoroughly 

 prepare the ground and lay it off in 6, 

 foot rows- Stock for planting was 

 secured from the surroundiug pastures. 

 The plants are cut up into single joints, 

 and these joints, handled with a fork, 

 are distributed about 2 feet apart in 

 the rows. The cuttings are really not 

 planted at all— they are simply laid 

 upon the ground. They make really 

 better plants in this way than when 

 planted on edge. This method of 

 planting can be pursued at any time of 

 the year when the ground is moist. It 

 is not prudent to plant in July or August, 

 but at any other season the plants will 

 grow readily. When the ground is dry, 

 however, it is best to lay the field out 

 in rows with a plough and partially 

 cover the cutting in the furrow. This 

 can be done by another furrow or by 

 the use of a sulky cultivator. 



The yield of prickly-pear per acre is, 

 it is stated, of course, fundamental in 

 all of these investigations. Its value 

 depends upon the quautity of feed which 

 it will produce under existing conditions. 

 Thus far, three years' growth was 

 secured. One of these seasons was very 

 dry, the other exceptionally wet, and 

 the second about an average season. 

 It was estimated, therefore, that the 

 average growth for these three years 

 will probably represent, quite closely, 

 the average for a longer period. It was 

 believed that it will be most advan- 

 tageous to harvest this crop not more 

 often than on alternate years. How- 

 ever, it will do no harm to allow the 

 crop' to stand three or four years 

 longer before harvesting it. It will 

 produce a large enough crop, however, 

 to be harvested at eighteen to- twenty- 

 four months after planting. During 

 the- past three years an average an- 

 nual growth of 23 tons per acre was 

 secured. In the experiments mentioned 



above, conducted at Encinal, it was 

 found that steers being fed for the 

 market consumed about 75 lb. of pear 

 per day, The milk cows at San Antonio 

 consumed about 140 lb. The average 

 consumption would, therefore, probably 

 be in the neighbourhood of 100 lb. These 

 figures, taken in connection with the 

 yield which was secured during the 

 past three years, would indicate that 

 roughage for about lj cow can be grown 

 upon one acre of ground. In order to be 

 conservative, suppose it was estimated at 

 one cow per acre, which seems from the 

 returns to be perfectly safe. Even this 

 is better than is done with hay in the 

 majority of the strictly agricultural 

 sections of the United States, and this 

 crop, it must be remembered, was grown 

 under conditions where sorghum produc- 

 ed from 1 to 1\ tons of silage per acre 

 per annum. 



In conclusion, it is stated that the crop 

 is easily handled, is drought-resistant 

 and yieids heavily, and it does not seem 

 clear how it can fail to become an im- 

 portant adjunct of the beef and butter 

 production ot Southern Texas. 



Europe. 



In at least one country in Europe- 

 Sicily— the prickly-pear is valued as a 

 food for both man and beast. M. de 

 Gasparin, the celebrated agriculturist, 

 wrote on his return from a voyage to 

 Sicily :— 



The Manna of Sicily.— Prickly-pear is 

 the manna, the providence, of Sicily. 

 Those who have not seen the abundance 

 of its production, and the almost 

 universal use which the inhabitants 

 make of it from July to November, would 

 consider these epithets exaggerated ; 

 but when one knows all that the island 

 owes to the plant, one can only praise it. 

 We may begin by saying that the 

 peasants are fed entirely on these fruits 

 from the moment at which they come 

 to maturity, for as long as they remain 

 on the plant ; they consume twenty-five 

 or thirty of them each day. Sicily 

 fattens during these four months ; when 

 this is past fasting begins. 



Composition of the Fruit. — At the out- 

 set, it seems not unreasonable to con- 

 clude that what will nourish man will 

 also nourish beasts. The particulars 

 contained in Wolff's tables confirm this 

 opinion. The fruits have the following 

 composition : — 



Dry substance ... 21 60 per cent. 



Ligneous matter ... 3 - 70 ,, 



Proteid substances ... 0*59 ,, 



Fatty bodies ... T80 ,, 



Sugar ... 14*00 „ 



