Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-01-17
THE TEXAS PR|CKLY PEAR CACTUS
EXPERIMENTS AT BROWNSVILLE
PROVE PEAR GOOD COW FEED
Can Be Cultivated at Very Little Cost.
and When Once Planted, Grows In
defnitely-Texas Good Field.

Washington.-Wi a view to asceT-
! tanning the value Of the prickly pear
I cactus as feed for dairy cows the
dairy division Of the bureau of animal
! industry in cooperation with the Of
! flee of farm management of the bu-
reau OF plant industry conducted a
series of experiments. l911-1913, at
Brownsville, Texas.
Following is summary of results
! obtained
Prickly pear was found to be very
! palatable, and when judiciously fed
/ was in no way detrimental to the cow
or her product during the two years
/ trial
F~The most satisfactory amount was
sixty to one hundred pounds of the
/ pear per COW per day. depending upon
/ the size OF the COW and upon the yield
of milk Larger quantities Of the pear
/ caused a very laxative condition OF
/ the bowels Chemical analysis show
ed that the pear was low in protein,
high in mineral matter. and contained
I ACii - ~ "p ~ N'llt VI N''ANAs 49,
1 ing trials indicated that the pear
should be used with some dry feed
containing a large amount of protein.
and that the pear on account of its
high mineral contents is a good feed
to give with a ration deficient in min
eraI matter like cotton seed huIls.
When compared with other com
mon roughagcs in Southern Texas the
/ pear was found 10 have the following
relative value for the production of
milk fat.
One pound sorghum hay, equal to
I 1df pounds of pear.
One pound sorghum silage. equal to
3$ pounds of pear.
one pound cotton seed hulls, equal
to 8.S pounds Of pear
By substituting sixty to seventy-five
pounds OF pear for a portion OF the
dry r0ughage the percentage of fat
in the milk was decreased forty-two
hundredths per cent on an average.
1t also decreased somewhat the total
amount OF fat and the percentage OF
solids not fat but increased the total
yield OF milk. Like pasture grass. the
pear produced higher colored butter
than did the dry feed. The flavor of
the milk and butter WAS not impaired
in any gay.
4 good daily maintenance ration for
grade Jersey rows when dry was
found TO be as follows:
Four to six pounds sorghum hay.
One pound cotton seed meal.
Sixty to one hundred pounds of pea.
Cows that were fed no roughage eX-
cept pear, drank no water for days
at time and then only a few swal-
lows; those fed one hundred and fifty
pounds per day drank an average of
five pounds daily; those fed seventy
five pounds drank thirty pounds daily;
those on dry feed drank sixty-nine
pounds per day on an average. From
these results it appears that pear is
a valuable feed when there is a scar
city of stock water.
Under farm conditions the cost of
establishing a field of pears will be
Sc or 81 per acre. When once estab-
lished and properly cared for, the
field of pear will last indefinitely, the
young growth springing from the old
stumps as soon as the pear is harvest
ed. In Southern Texas no irrigation
is necessary, but shallow cultivation
sufficient TO keep out weeds and grass
should be given.
The average yield at Brownsville,
Texas, under very favorable cOndi-
tions. two years from planting. was
eighty-five tons per acre per year.
The growth from old stumps is con-
siderabIy greater amounting in one
test to over two hundred tons per
acre for the two years growth. These
yields were made under good dry-land
cultivation. At San Antonio the yield
of native spring cactus was twenty
three tons per acre without irrigation,
but with fair cultivation. At Chico,
the yield of spineless cactus was about
twenty-five tons per acre without ir
rigation, but with expert cultivation.