32 THE PRICKLY PEAR AS FOOD FOR STOCK. 



Mexican population, who own their oxen and carts, their sole holdings 

 in many cases. 



It is estimated by Mr. Jacobo C. Guerra that there are no less than 

 200 of these Mexican carts operating between Rio Grande City and 

 the north. About 60 of these work at the business continuously, while 

 the remainder haul when there is an exceptionally large quantity of 

 freight to be moved. There are a few mule teams on the road, but 

 by far the larger quantity of freight is hauled with bulls or oxen; even 

 cows are sometimes hitched to the wagons. A team consists of 4t to 

 10 oxen hitched to a Mexican cart. Such a team will make a trip of 

 76 miles and back in ten to fourteen days. The longer time is the one 

 most frequently used. Two trips per month is what the average team 

 makes. They go practically empty one way. and haul 3,000 pounds 

 on the other trip. This figures up, for those who work at the business 

 all of the time. 10 miles per day, continuously, from one year's end to 

 the other, and this over a very hard road, two-thirds of which is sandy. 

 This work is done by these animals upon a ration of prickly pear and 

 grass, when the latter is to be had: when there is no grass, pear alone 

 suffices. There are long seasons of frequent occurrence when grass is 

 next to nothing, and during these seasons nopal in large quantities is 

 fed. the cattle getting little else. The season is both infrequent and 

 severe when the hobbled ox can not get some feed out of a brush pas- 

 ture. Frequently, however, the feed, aside from pear, is very small in 

 quantity. 



Probably the largest amount of teaming is done between Hebron- 

 ville and Rio Grande City. There is no pear convenient upon the 

 northern one-third of this road. It is therefore necessary for the team- 

 sters to provide themselves with pear by hauling it over about one- 

 fourth of the journey. This necessitates the hauling of pear 15 or :20 

 miles, which largely increases the total work done by the animals. 

 The driver camps at night in a pear thicket, lights a brush tire, and in 

 about thirty minutes scorches the thorns from enough pear for his 

 team to eat during the night. Another feed in the morning is usually 

 all the}' get. In some cases the animals are given a ration of pear at 

 midday. These people are often provided with a pear fork, a descrip- 

 tion of which has already been given (see tig. 1, p. 15), while some of 

 them use a sharp stick for handling the pear. In chopping the pear 

 down an ax or a machete is used. Before leaving the pear thickets 

 enough pear is scorched and loaded on the wagons to feed the teams 

 until they return to the thickets again. 



During a good season, like the past one. there is plenty of grass 

 along the road, but in spite of this pear is fed. The animals do not 

 eat so much of it as they do when the grass is short, but there is 

 never a season when the}' will not eat a surprisingly large amount of 

 scorched pear. 



