16 THE PRICKLY PEAR AS FOOD FOR STOCK. 



upon the handle when raised above the operator in the act of pitching 

 upon the wagon. None of these was seen upon the ranges, but such 

 forks were commonly used by the wood choppers and freighters. 



The vast majority of the Mexicans use a forked stick, and this is 

 the only method of handling which was observed in old Mexico, where 

 pear feeding is very extensively practiced. 



PEAR MACHINERY. 



So far as the writer is aware, all pear machines that have been 

 invented— and there are four of them — have emanated from the 

 country tributary to San Antonio, Tex. At present there are four 

 machines in common use, two choppers and two torches, as described 

 below. 



ORIGIN OF PEAR MACHINERY. 



Dr. W. S. Carruthers, a retired army surgeon, is said to have 

 originated the idea of pear-cutting machinery. Doctor Carruthers 

 submitted a sketch with notes to a foundryman at San Antonio, Tex., 

 who put the idea into mechanical execution about 1SS6 or 1887. 



The first machine was constructed of wood. It consisted essentially 

 of a vertically mounted revolving wheel, with an iron band shrunken 

 upon it in much the same way as the tire of a wagon wheel. Knives 

 for cutting the pear were fastened to the surface of this wheel. It 

 was not essentially different in principle from the machines of more 

 modern construction. Although many mechanical improvements on 

 the original machine have been made, it is admitted that the honor of 

 the invention belongs to Doctor Carruthers, who not only designed 

 the original, but was the first to operate a pear-cutting machine. 



Mr. T. R. Keck, of Cotoula, Tex., who was associated with Doctor 

 Carruthers during his experimentation with his first machine, reports 

 that the first machine used was made by himself out of boards and two 

 old hay knives. This machine was used one winter on a very small 

 scale as an experiment in testing the efficiency of pear and cotton-seed 

 meal for fattening cattle. The following winter about 5,000 head of 

 cattle were fed upon cotton-seed meal and machine-cut pear. Mr. 

 Keck reports that the first homemade machine was used in 1885, as 

 nearly as he can remember. 



Since the invention of the pear choppers, some feeders have used 

 some of the standard fodder cutters with moderate success. It is 

 difficult to feed pear to these machines, however, for they are not run 

 at a high enough rate of speed to get rid of the spines. They are not 

 suitable for handling pear. 



