PEAR FOR MAINTAINING CATTLE. 27 



longer. It is a very common practice throughout the pear region to 

 feed only the poorer stock. The herd is worked over every few days 

 for the purpose of cutting out those animals which are weak and most 

 in need of feed. These are fed until they get on the mend, and are 

 then turned out to "rustle" for themselves in the pastures, while 

 another bunch is fed in their place. Very often all that is attempted 

 is to keep stock alive until grass begins to grow. 



Pear is considered good roughage in time of need in this vicinity, 

 although no one regards it as a nutritious feed and all prefer to give 

 even the stock which they are only attempting to carry through the 

 winter some concentrated feed with it. It is impossible to estimate 

 the total quantity of pear fed by the Messrs. Furnish. 



Three years ago Mr. M. T. Cogley, of Laredo, Tex., fed 40 head 

 of cattle for ninety days on a daily ration for each animal of 1 quart 

 of cotton-seed meal, increased to 3 quarts as feeding progressed, and 

 200 pounds (estimated) of pear, chopped with machetes. Three men 

 did the feeding and hauling. The animals fattened well, but it is 

 believed they were held too long for the best results. They are sup- 

 posed to have weighed about 50 pounds less than would have been the 

 case ten days earlier. The falling off is thought to be due largely to 

 too prolonged feeding of cotton-seed meal, but also to some extent to 

 wet weather, which made the pastures boggy. 



Mr. T. A. Coleman, of Encinal, Tex., is among the most extensive, 

 if not really the largest, feeder of pear in Texas, and his experience is 

 as varied as any in the country. His feeding has been done both to 

 save cattle and to fatten them, and both operations have been con- 

 ducted with uniform success. During the past winter four methods 

 of feeding were employed: 



(1) One lot of steers was feci in a closed pen. When feeding- 

 began they were given 3 pounds of cotton-seed meal, which was 

 graduall}^ increased to 6 pounds as the feeding progressed. The pear 

 they ate was chopped and fed to them in troughs at the estimated rate of 

 80 pounds to a feed, or 160 pounds a day. During the last ten days each 

 received about 8 pounds of sorghum fodder a d&y. The feeding con- 

 tinued sevent} 7 days, and Mr. Coleman and his men assert that they never 

 saw stock fatten in better shape than did these; while Mr. Cameron, 

 a buyer with a varied experience, authorizes the statement that the} 7 

 were far above the average of fleshy cattle in that section. 



(2) In one pasture, cattle were fed pear scorched with a gasoline 

 torch and were allowed free access to cotton-seed cake in a self-feeder. 

 The cake feeding in this experiment was especially unsatisfactoiy, and 

 the use of the self-feeder will be discontinued. These cattle had the 

 run of dry grass pasture in addition to the cake and pear fed. 



(3) A third lot was fed cotton-seed cake in a self-feeder, and allowed 



