The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1909-12-17
USE OF cAcTI SAVES STOCK
In Times Of Drought the splneless Va.
riety Proves an Excellent
Forage for Cattle.
(By E. O. Wooton, Botanist of New Mex
leo Experiment Station.)

(By E. o. Wooton, Botanist of New Mex
leo Experiment Station.)
After all that has been written con-
corning spineless cactus as a forage
plant 1t would seem somewhat su-
perf1uous to call the attention of stock
men to the value of the cacti upon
their ranges during the dry season Of
the year. But the mental step between
spiny cacti and spineless ones seems
to be long one, and one that few
take readily.
quote from a bulletin by the bu-
reau of plant industry. THE Prickly
Pear and Other Cacti as Food for
Stock" by DR.. David Griffiths: Prick
ly pear, although poor in nutritive
quality, can be fed to decided advan-
tage under several conditions and for
several purposes: % To save cattle
during prolonged drought when other
more nutritive food is scarce"
Now this statement applies to any
kind of cactus that is big enough to
furnish any quantity of forage, being
especially true of the prickly pears
and cane cacti. The truth of this
statement is vouched for by many who
have tried it,
This is by no means the only use
for cacti, but at the season of the year
when all feed is dry and there is very
little of it, when the water supply is
poorest, it would seem to be a most
| important one.
This article is written to call the
attention of those stockmen who have
already availed themselves of the sup
ply, and more especially those who
are losing stock, to the fact that they
probably have upon their ranges for
age which may be available to their
stock by little work.
Spineless cacti will not grow in the
open range. In fact, their thorns
and spines together are one of the
characters that make it impossible for
cacti of any kind to live on the open
ranges. And even this defensive armor is
insufficient to protect them from a
number of enemies. But the spines
do protect them from stock, and be-
fore they can be made into stock feed
the spine must be destroyed
Fortunately the spines burn readily,
hence Is is possible to SINCE them off
without affecting the stems, and SO
come at the forage.
Two ways of burning spines have
been shown to be practicable One is
to cut the stalks with machete or a
sharp spade and hold them in the
blaze of brush fire with a pitch
fork. The other is to SINCE them on
the plants as they stand with gaso.
line torch specially made for the work.
This torch is made on the principle of
an ordinary plumbers TORCH with a
rather long pipe for the reservoir and
one that may be turned in different di-
rections. Gasoline is fuel and is
used under pressure and mixed with
air, so it is very essential that all
joints be gas-tight and be kept free
of gasoline; otherwise serious explo-
sions may occur.
The torch method is much the more
rapid and less laborious. Experience
has shown that it is well to have a
good pressure in the tank and avoid
using the torch in the wind as much
as possible, since this materially in
creases the amount of singing.
Considering the fact that we have a
period of shortage of feed and water
each year in the spring and early sum-
mer, and periodic occurrences of years
that are drier than usual at that time,
1t would seem but a sensible thing for
stockmen to encourage the growth Of
cacti upon those parts of their ranges
where grass and better forage do not
grow we'll; this is to be done with the
idea of preparing for the lean year"
The easy way of planting cacti is to
scatter the separate joints over the
ground. They will take root without
covering. The work may be done at
any season of the year, though a
larger per cent. of the joints will root
during the rainy season. This state
ment applies to the lower and hotter
southern end of the territory.