The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-14
ALCOHOL FROM THE CACTUS.
A Source of Wealth for Texas Ranch
 men Under the New Law.


 Texas the prickly pear has long been regarded as an unmitigated nuisance, although during the seasons of drouth the ranches have found it very good cattle food after the spines are remov- ed by burning.
 Since the impetus given the making of denatured alcohol, "The Birmingham | Age Herald" says, there is bonanza to be reaped from these cactus lands of Texas as material for manufact- | uring alcohol, and at several points in , West Texas arrangements are being made to soon begin the work with port able stills, winch will be moved around in the cactus region as the supply di- minishes. Owners of this cactus land are figuring on some big revenues when the alcohol making begins, and 1t is an experiment that is being watched with interest throughout the state,
 The feeding of this prlckly pear to stock has also been given q new inpe- ! tus in consequence of some experiments ! that have recently been made and the boost given the idea by the federal au- thorites at Washington. As a result i of careful experiments it has been shown that ration producing between one and quarter and one and d half pounds of butter a day costs about IS cents, when peas, rice. bran and cot ton seed meal were fed.
 Although pricl1ly pear is low in nu- tritive value from the chemical stand- point, the steer feeding experiment shows also that there is abundant jus tification for the practices in vogue ct preparing cattle for market upon prick ly pear and cottonseed meal A gain of one and three-quarter pounds a day at an expense of cents pound com pares favorably with tho feeding re- suits 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 in Wash ington. The first test was undertaken by Alexander Sinclair, of San Antonio The second was conducted by T. A., Coleman upon his ranch In Encinal
 There are two species of the prickly pear recognized in that portion of Tex as where the plant flourishes. Even is smal land prostrate and of no special value; the other has at least two forms one with yellow spines and the other with splnes red or brown at the base There is also another variety found in South Texas and known as the blue leaf.
 The COWS selected for this experi- ment were taken from the Sinclair herd. They were Holstein-Jo stock. Dur ing the feeding period the cows were kept in separate pens and under sep arate sheds, and were allowed to re- main in the sheds or roam in the pen at will. One load of pear was sufficient for il weeks feed, and at feeding time the material was placed in a box and chopped with spade into convenient size for tho animals to eat. The grain was fed at milking time and ration of roughge, consisting of pear or sorghum or hay. was fed three times a day Pear was also fed after milking morn ing and evening and about midday. It was the purpose during the period to feed all the pear the cows would eat.
 time to make an estimate that is all
 It has been found impossible at this reliable regarding the cost of this item of the ration. The rancher gathers the pear upon his land as he does firewood, hence it costs him nothing, The cost of the other items of the ration is as follows; Cottonseed meal, $2 a ton; rice bran, $13 ton; sorghum hay, S7 a ton. One man can easily burn pears for hundred cows, and in addition thereto he can assist in the milking He will use about ten gallons of gaso- len each day in burning the spines off the cactus and during the time this ex- permetn was in progress the price of this commodity was 12 cents a gallon. The cost of a days rations for each COW while pear without hay was being fed was 13 cents.
 The conclusion at Washington is that the Texas raiser has very cheap feed at hand if he will only give the matter the proper attention Many ranchmen in that section of the state have pro- vived themselves with pear burners, as they are called, which can be moved around over the pear producing area, and the spines burned off the plant during the dingiokoleayttsoir ,aiilcmm as it is gathered. The slight scorching given the plant during the spine burn ing process does not seem to affect the taste, for cattle eat it with avidity, and it is apparent that had it not been for the spines on this plant the cattle would have long since wiped 1t out of existance.