. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. CACTI CASSAVA 227 prickly-pear burner, as it is called, the spines have been singed from a number of species of cactus common to the Southwest. The Arizona Experiment Station tested several species in this way. (Fig. 322.) Previous to the experiment, it had been. Fig. 322. Singeing the cholla (Opuniia fulgida) with a prickly pear burner. noticed that the stock was browsing; on the cactus shrubs, especially on the less spiny fruits. The first fifty plants that were singed were literally devoured by "the stock, the prickly pears being e
. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. CACTI CASSAVA 227 prickly-pear burner, as it is called, the spines have been singed from a number of species of cactus common to the Southwest. The Arizona Experiment Station tested several species in this way. (Fig. 322.) Previous to the experiment, it had been. Fig. 322. Singeing the cholla (Opuniia fulgida) with a prickly pear burner. noticed that the stock was browsing; on the cactus shrubs, especially on the less spiny fruits. The first fifty plants that were singed were literally devoured by "the stock, the prickly pears being eaten nearly to the ground, while only the trunks and woody branches of the chollas remained. It was soon evident that the animals were feeding entirely on the singed cacti, which they readily distinguished from the unsinged. The amount that should be fed from a plant at one time varies with species and condition of growth. The machine used costs eighteen dollars. It con- sumes eight to ten gallons of gasoline per day. One man with a machine can feed 400 head of cattle all the spiny cacti they will eat. It is esti- mated that 7,000 to 11,000 pounds of cactus for- age can be prepared daily in this way, at a cost of about two dollars and forty cents, not including the hire of the man. The work and the cost are justified if cattle can thereby be carried over periods of shortage. The amount of water in this forage, as estimated at the Arizona Experiment Station, is approximately 75 to 80 per cent, leav- ing 20 to per cent, or 1,600 to 2,.500 pounds of solid matter for the day's work. This large amount of water is of considerable value to the thirsty cattle as it no doubt enables them to browse much farther from their watering places than they otherwise could. At the New Mexico Experiment Station, experi- ments were made to test the value of one kind of cactus forage for dairy cows. The spines were singed off in the way mentoned above. The cactus was then run through a root-cutte
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