34 THE PRICKLY PIA?. AS 7 I FOB ST 



sold - grass-fat cattle in sixty day?, while that portion of the herd 



wintered on dry ss was not fat until fall. Of course the effect : 



moving and the influence of the pound or pound and a half : :ton- 

 meal must not be overlooked, but the Influence of the pear was 

 inly very potent. This corresponds very well with the experi 

 of feeders in southeastern Colorado, wi. > is mmonlv fed 



without any othe: pt what stock pick up in native pastures. 



is : ;;nd that cactus fed in any form is of decided advantage in 

 toning up t:. system, particularly of 2-year-old st :. which surfer 

 espe ially on account of the condition of their teeth at this age. Many 

 _ ir-old heifers upon the range are lost at this age from constipa- 

 tion, brought on. no doubt, by a long- continued diet of dry grass, 

 which is often so short as to be difficult i i st k of this age to gel 

 it. This evil, it is sai . is rrected by a few feeds of 



Ranchers in Tex - ften los -mall number of cattle from t: : t 

 of the accumulation of liber of the pear in the stoma eh. Thi^ condition 

 is said never to occur with chopped pear, but to he common io cas - 

 where a pear burner or machete is used, and still more common in cattle 

 which are forced to eat a large amount of pear in short pastures dm _ 

 seas ns. The balls are said to be made up entirely of the liber and 

 spines of the pear. It is also claimed that liber balls are never formed 

 when stock have as . le quantity _ — _ other roughage with 

 i 



N :• manner of feeding cactus yet devised, without greater care than 

 the feeder is usually willing t stow upon the work. 3 .way 



entirely with the evil effe : : the spines. Singeing with a torch or 

 brush is the most effectual in tins regard, if sufficient care is taken by 

 the operator. In practice, h rer, very little attention is ] id to the 

 small spines, the effort being to burn off the distal three-fourths of the 

 large ones, leaving most of the small ones for the stock to contend 

 with. Indeed, there is a prejudice — whether well founded or not it 

 has been impossible to determine — again-: - orched to the extent 



necessai ~ insure the removal of all the small spines. It is claimed 

 that cattle scour much worse upon pear which has been excessively 



1 hed by either torch or brush flame. Another objection 

 that torch-scorched pear invariably dies if the flame is kept upon it 

 long enough to insure the removal of all the spines. This is really an 

 important matter for those who have but little pear in their past s 3 

 as -imply singeing off the larger -pines does not check the growth of 

 the plants at all. and all the singed plants not actually grazed grow the 

 following season. 



The spines invariably work into the skin and flesh of animals which 

 have the run of pear pastures to a !•:.:_ dent, . :ain exposed por- 

 tions of the skin being often literally tilled with them. It is reported 

 ate :ers that they ften fin attle and sheep so full of cactus spines 



