June, 1909,] 



Upon these data Wolff assigns to the 

 fruit the number 304 as the " comparative 

 nutritive number"— that is to say, to 

 eqaal 100 kilos of good dry hay, taken as 

 a forage type, we require 304 kilos of the 

 fruits of the prickly-pear. 



The figures given by Wolff for the 

 following roots, fleshy fruits, &c, are 



as follows :— 



Potatoes ... ... ... 241 



Jerusalem artichokes ... ... 290 



Carrots ... ... ... 434 



Fodder beet-root ... ... 484 



Radishes ... ... ... 704 



Pumpkins ... ... ... 723 



The fruits of the prickly-pear, there- 

 fore, hold high rank in this scale, coming 

 a little after potatoes and Jerusalem 

 artichokes, 1'ar before carrots and beet- 

 root, and much before radishes and 

 pumpkins. 



New South Wales. 



Several instances are reported of the 

 prickly-pear having been utilised in this 

 country for feeding stock, and, in view 

 of the results, it is remarkable that 

 further investigations on these lines 

 have not been carried out. 



Feeding Pigs at Minto.— In 1895, Mr. 

 J. P. Gorus, of Eschol Park, Minto, 

 having occasion to get rid of a quantity 

 of prickly-pear growing on the estate, 

 determined to test the value of this 

 plant boiled with meat and refuse for 

 pigs, and took careful notes of the 

 results. The plants were chipped down 

 with a hoe, pitchforked into a dray, and 

 conveyed to the boiling down. 



This consisted of a series of ordinary 

 iron tanks (400 gallons) set in brickwork, 

 the lid cut out and placed at the bottom 

 so as to form a double bottom over a 

 fireplace, 2 feet 6 inches square, the 

 object of the large fireplace being to 

 enable Avhole logs to be used for fuel, 

 and so reduce cost of cutting, &c. At 

 the time the experiment with prickly- 

 pear was carried out, Mr. Gorus was 

 boiling down a large quantity of sheep 

 for tallow, and when the fat had been 

 skimmed off, the plants were pitchfork- 

 ed into the soup in the boilers. They 

 were then boiled for some hours, until 

 the leaves began tc peel, when it was 

 found that the large hard thorns became 

 quite soft, and the little bristles, which 

 are so irritating to the tongue, were also 

 rendered soft and harmless. 



The contents of the boiler were then 

 allowed to cool, and conveyed to the 

 piggery, when the "soup" was run off 

 into a trough, and the leaves and stalks 

 of the prickly-pear thrown to the pigs. 

 The effect of the addition of the plant 

 to the soup was to render it of almost 



537 Edible Products. 



jelly-like consistency. The pigs devour- 

 ed it greedily, and evinced a great 

 liking for the boiled plants, chewing up 

 the succulent leaves and stalks, and 

 spitting forth the fibre perfectly macerat- 

 ed. A large number of pigs, nearly 200, 

 were fed in this way for several months, 

 and not one of them showed the least 

 sign of internal trouble from the thorns 

 or bristles. 



Sometimes the plants were merely 

 boiled in water, and fed to the pigs, 

 with the addition of just a small 

 quantity of molasses. When treated in 

 this way the pigs showed a greater liking 

 for the stalks, which appeared to be 

 extremely succulent, and the source of 

 considerable nutriment. 



Of course, it was not to be expected 

 that the cooked plant of itself would 

 fatten the pigs, but Mr. Gorus, from his 

 experience, had no hesitation in placing 

 the feeding value of this plant higher 

 than that of melons or squashes. The 

 experiment was carried out in a very 

 dry season, when there was very little 

 grass or other green feed available. 

 The boiled plants proved, so far as the 

 health of the animals was concerned, an 

 invaluable substitute for the green feed 

 necessary to maintain meat-fed pigs in 

 perfect condition. The expense was 

 simply the cutting down and carting of 

 the plants ; boiling was a mere trifle, and 

 there was, of course, in addition to the 

 feeding value of the plants, the advant- 

 age of absolutely ridding a large area of 

 land of this troublesome pest. 



When the difficulty of totally destroy- 

 ing the prickly-pear is taken into con- 

 sideration, the following suggestion by 

 Mr, Gorus might commend itself to any- 

 one striving to rid his land of this for- 

 midable weed. Mr. Gorus suggests that 

 instead of throwing the plants into 

 heaps and waiting months for them to 

 become sufficiently dry to burn readily, 

 an old 400-gallon tank should be pro- 

 cured, and the fuel that is now used for 

 burning the plants could be utilised for 

 boiling them. If there were no animals 

 that might eat the cooked plants, they 

 could simply be tipped out and allowed 

 to rot. Anybody who has tried to burn 

 off prickly-pears will understand how 

 great is the quantity of wood required, 

 and how readily an imperfectly burnt 

 plant will start into growth. 



Feeding Dairy Stock at Lochinvar.— 

 Mr. W. L. Boyce, of Lochinvar, in 1897, 

 related his experiences and experi- 

 ments with prickly-pears :— On the 5th 

 January, 1895, a flood in the Hunter 

 River destroyed all the standing crops 

 in the district, and this being immedi- 



