The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-01-09
GOOD IN PRICKLY PEAR
Valuable as an Alcoho! and
Beef Producer.
PORTABLE STILLS BEING MADE

Make Good Butter Producing Feed.
Cattle Like Them, ind They Fatten
Steers Rapidly.
In portions Of West Texas and over
a great deal Of south and southwest
Texas the prickly pear has long been
regarded as an unmitigated nuisance,
although during seasons Of drought the
ranchmen have found it u very good
cattle food after the spines are re-
moved by burning.
Since the impetus given the making
of denatured alcohol 1t Is claimed that
there is a bonanza to be reaped from
these cactus lands Of Texas as a ma
terial for manufacturing alcohol, and
at several points in west Texas DR.
engagements are being made to soon be-
sin work with portable stills, which
will be moved around in the cactus re-
gion US the supply diminishes, says a
Fort Worth (Tex.) correspondent Of
the st. houis Post-D Dispatch. Owners
Of this cactus land are figuring on
some big revenue when the alcohol
making begins, and 1t Is an experiment
that Is being watched with much in
terest throughout the state.
The feeding Of this prlckly pear to
stock has also been given a new i'm
petus In consequence Of some expert
ments that have recently been made
and the boost given the idea by the
federal authorities ut Washington. As
a result Of careful experiments it has
been shown that a ration producing
between one and a quarter and one
and a half pounds of butter per day
costs about - cents when pear, rice,
bran and cottonseed meal are fed.
Although prickly pear is low in nu
tritive value from the chemical stand
point, the steer feeding experiment
also shows that there Is abundant JUS
tification for the practices in vogue Of
preparing cattle for market upon prick
ly pear and cottonseed meal. \ gain
Of II and three-quarters pounds per
day at an expense of 49, cents per
pound compares favorably with the
feeding results obtained from standard
feeds.
Two experiments have recently been
undertaken. both conducted under the
immediate supervision of ranchmen in
southern Texas in cooperation with
the bureau Of plant industry Mt Wash
ington. The first test was undertaken
by Alexander Sinclair of San Antonio.
The second was conducted by 4. A.
Coleman upon his ranch at Enclnal.
0Nhnr0 n ,n {y,N ,,,na;o, ~ %1>~ ,,r;alC,
pe0r recognized in that portion of Tex
as where the plant flourishes. One is
small and PROSTATE and OF no special
value. The other has ut least two
forms, one with yellow spincs and the
other with spines red Or brown at the
base. There is also another variety
found in south Texas and known as
the blue peal.
The ows selected for this expert
ment were secured from the Sinclair
herd. They We're Holsteln-Jersey stock.
During the feeding period the ows
were kept in separate pens and under
separate sheds and were allowed to
remain In the sheds or roam In the
pens ut will. One load Of pears vas
sufficient for Il weeks feed, and ut
feeding time the material was placed
in a box and chopped with a spade
into convenient size for the animals to
eat. The grain was fed at milking
time, and a ration of ~roughage, con
sisting Of pears or sorghum or hay,
was fed three times a day. Pears We're
always fed after milking morning and
evening and about midday. 1t was
the purpose during the entire period
to feed all the pears the COWS would
eat.
1t has been found impossible at this
time to make an estimate that Is at
all reliable regarding the cost Of this
item of the ration. The rancher gath
ers the pears upon his land as he
would firewood; hence 1t costs him
nothing. The cost Of the other items
| Of the ration Is as follows: Cottonseed
meal, 500 per ton; rice bran. $19 per
ton; sorghum hay, ~ per ton. One
man can easily burn pears for 100
cows, and in addition thereto he can
assist in the milking. He will use
about ten gallons Of gasoline each day
in burning the spines OF Of the cactus.
and during the time this experiment
was in progress the price Of this com
modify was IL cents per gallon. The
cost Of a days rations Tor each COW,
while pears without hay were being
fed, was Is cents.
The conclusion at Washington Is that
the Texas cattle raiser has a very
cheap feed at hand IL he will only
give the matter the proper attention.
Many ranchmen in that section Of the
state have provided themselves with
pear burners. as they are called, which
a be moved around over the pear
producing area and the spines burned
of the plant as 1t Is gathered. The
slight score ling given the plant during
the spine burning process does not
seem to affect the taste. for cattle eat
It with avidity, and 1t Is apparent that
had 1t not been for the spines on this
plant the cattle would have long since