SOME DAIRY RATIONS INCLUDING PEAR. 23 



several dairymen. The following- are considered typical, and are 

 reproduced here practically in full: 



(1) Do you feed prickly pear to your dairy herd? How many years has this 

 practice been followed? 



Answers. — (a) During the winter months only. (6) I do in winter; five years, 

 (c) Yes; for fourteen years, (d) Yes; have fed off and on for a number of years. 

 (e) Yes; during the winter time; for about twelve years. (/) I have fed prickly 

 pear to my dairy cows for nine years. 



(2) How long did you feed during the past winter? 



Answers. — («) About fourteen weeks. (6) All winter, (c) All winter, (d) Did 

 not feed pear last winter, because other feeds were very cheap, (e) None at all. (/) 

 Did not feed during the past winter, on account of having moved to a place where it 

 was inconvenient to get it. 



(3) How do you prepare prickly pear for feeding? 



Answers. — («) Make brush fire and burn thorns off. (b) I use a pear burner. 

 (c) Singe the thorns off and cut it up. (d) I run the pear through a pear cutter and 

 mix with cotton-seed meal and hulls, (e) Burn the thorns off; then chop in small 

 pieces. (/) I first burn off the thorns with a dry brush fire, and then cut into 

 small pieces with a large carving knife. 



(4) How much pear do you feed a cow each day? If you do not know the exact 

 number of pounds, estimate it as closely as possible. How many loads per day do 

 you feed to how many cows? 



uinsicers. — («) I feed about two-thirds of a common water bucket full to each cow 

 in the morning, (b) I give the cows as much as they can eat once a day. (c) About 

 10 or 15 pounds per cow. (d) I feed lh bushels to a cow each day. (e) One load 

 of about 3,000 pounds lasts 16 cows about three days. (/) I give each cow about 

 6 gallons of pear cut up into pieces about 21 inches square. 



(5) "What other feeds do you give the cows with pear? How much of each kind 

 of feed per cow? 



Answers. — (a) I feed cotton-seed meal and bran. (6) Bran and cotton-seed meal. 

 (c) One quart of cotton-seed meal, 1 peck of cotton-seed hulls, and all the cane 

 they want, (d) One quart of cotton seed, 1 quart of cotton-seed meal, and 20 

 pounds of hulls per day. (e) One and one-half quarts of cotton-seed meal, 8 

 quarts of wheat bran, 20 pounds of cotton-seed hulls. (/) I give my cows 10 pounds 

 per day of a mixture of cotton seed and wheat bran, in addition to the 6 gallons of 

 prickly pear. 



(6) Do your cows have the run of any pasture while you feed pear? 

 Answers. — (a) Yes. (6) Yes. (c) Yes. (d) No. (e) Very little. (/) Yes. 



(7) Do you consider that pear influences the flavor, odor, or quality of the milk in 

 any way? 



Answers. — (a) It does if fed more than two-thirds of a common water bucket full to 

 each cow in the morning, or in any other way. Feeding at night affects the odor of 

 the milk slightly and gives butter a pale color, (b) It increases the quantity of milk 

 40 per cent, (c) It does not affect the flavor or color, but it may reduce the weight 

 or richness of it. It increases the quantity, (d) No; I do not think it influences the 

 flavor, odor, or quality of the milk at all when fed as I have mentioned, (e) When 

 too much pear is fed, and not enough solid feed, the milk has a peculiar odor, is very 

 poor in quality, and blue in color. (/) Prickly pear does not injure the flavor of the 

 milk. It increases the flow. Cattle are very fond of it. 



(8) Do you have pear in your pastures, or do you buy it? If you buy, how much 

 do you pay per load? 



