jtfx\E, 1900.] 



He fed his cows on this silage, steamed 

 pears, and barley, all on the same day ; 

 there was also a good picking of green 

 herbage, yet everything was eaten up 

 clean. The milk test was 4 per cent, of 

 butter-fat, which was amongst the 

 highest at his creamery. 



Now, as this ration has a good propoi'- 

 tion of prickly-pear, the facts stated 

 prove that there is considerable virtue 

 in the much-despised prickly-pear. 



It only remains to add that the pears 

 were placed in the stack whole, including 

 thorns and roots, the largest bunches 

 being afterwards chopped to flatten 

 them. 



The heat and ferment of the silo soft- 

 ened the thorns and rendered them 

 harmless. 



He always added a bag or more of 

 coarse salt to a stack to make the fod- 

 der more palatable. 



Analyses. 



The following are analyses of the fresh 

 eaves of prickly-pear made by the 

 Departmental Chemist :— 



^ < £ b 



1. Opuntiaficus Indica... 93-76 1-22 0'55 0-35 



2. Opuntia elatior ...89-76 1-92 1"39 0-35 



3. Opuntia Brasiliensis... 86-19 2-43 T51 0-46 



4. Opuntia coccinellifera S7'89 1-73 0-96 0-34 



^'a * 



1. Opuntia ticus Indica... - 50 3-62 5 1 to 9 



2. Opuntia elatior ...0 65 o - 93 7| 1 to 9 



3. Opuntia Brasiliensis... 0*90 8 - 51 10^ 1 to 10 



4. Opuntia coccinellifera - 78 8'30 10^ 1 to 12 



The average composition of prickly- 

 pear, as determined by the above 

 analyses, is not dissimilar to that of tur- 

 nips, an analysis of which vegetable, 

 by Professor Church, is appended for 

 the sake of comparison :— 



Composition of Wheat Turnips — 



Water ... ,.. 92-8 



Albuminoids ... ... 0"5 



Carbo-hydrates ... ... 4-0 



Oil ... ... 0'1 



Fibre ... ... 1-8 



Ash 0*8 



100 



Nutrient ... ... 4 



Albuminoid ratio, 1 to 6. 

 Further Investigations. 



The experience in Texas and Mexico 

 would lead one to hope that the most 



89 Edible Products, 



promising method of dealing with the 

 pest may be to ultilise it as a fodder, and 

 with a view to ascertaining whether such 

 a course could be profitably followed, 

 it is the intention of the Department to 

 carry out a series of experiments. 

 Other Commercial Uses. 



Last year the Press announced that a 

 Brisbaue chemist had discovered in the 

 prickly-pear commercial possibilities 

 quite alluring, and calculated rather to 

 encourage its cultivation than its des- 

 truction. Spirits, feed cake, strawboard, 

 and sugar were a few of the market- 

 able products to be obtained from the 

 pear, and with a view to encouraging 

 such a laudable effort to utilise one 

 of Australia's worst pests, communica- 

 tion was entered into by this Depart- 

 ment with the Queensland Department 

 of Agricuture. The Brisbane chemist 

 was, however, unknown to the Depart- 

 ment, and the Postal Department also 

 failed to locate him. However, within 

 the last few days the writer has had 

 submitted to him a small quantity of 

 spirits, which, it is stated, was distilled 

 from prickly-pear by a Sydney resident, 

 and at the time of writing, the process 

 of distillation from a quantity of pear 

 is being demonstrated at the Depart- 

 mental Laboratory, Should it eventu- 

 ally prove that alcohol can be distilled 

 at a small cost, it is certain that a big 

 step shall have been taken towards the 

 solving of the prickly-pear question. 



In Germany, France, and the United 

 States, great use is made of commercial 

 or denatured alcohol for power, heat, 

 and light. In Germany, the inland 

 revenue laws have been so modified to 

 allow a German farmer to produce his 

 own alcohol for commercial purposes 

 without any internal revenue tax, and 

 the consumption is increasing at the rate 

 of about 20,000,000 gallons per year. 

 In France the annual increase is about 

 1,000,000 gallons per year. The United 

 States, some eighteen months ago 

 encated legislation allowing of the 

 manufacture of alcohol for industrial 

 purposes free of an internal revenue 

 tax, provided it was denatured, that 

 is, made unfit for human consumption, 

 and large quantities are now used for 

 lighting, heating, and for power in 

 gasoline engines. 



In Europe alcohol is derived principally 

 from the potato and the sugar beet- 

 An average acre of potatoes would 

 produce about 250 gallons of alcohol, 

 but special varieties are being grown 

 which produce 500 gallons per acre, 

 while in the United States 50 bushels 

 of corn would make 110 gallons of 

 commercial alcohol, 



