Australian Salfhush.es In California . 19 



cut back or fed off about the middle of October^, it makes six or eiglit 

 inclies of new growtli by the m.iddle of January, long before our native 

 forage plants in this region on similar soils are fit for pasturage." 



"During the past few years another saltbush Atriplex nummularia, 

 has come into deserved prominence at this sub-station. This species grows 

 tall and is considered one of the most valuableof all in Australia, where 

 it is extensively propagated from cuttings. It is a browsing plant 

 chiefly, and does not furnish hay such as that of A. semihaccata, but its 

 drought resistance is enormous and it is probable that, if widely planted, 

 its value on cattle ranges here would equal or surpass that of the 

 latter. Cut once — December 11th, 1901 — the plants, then two years 

 old, yielded at the rate of over seventeen tons of excellent green 

 forage per acre. Two cuttings are practicable here, giving a total of 

 from twenty to twenty-five tons of green feed for sheep or cattle. A. 

 nummularia here is far superior to A. halimoides, A. vesicaria, and the 

 other tall Australian species tested. Fifty plants a year old will furnish 

 cuttings sufficient to plant an acre of ground. The cuttings of old 

 wood, made six or eight inches long, should be rooted in boxes of 

 sand, from which they can be transplanted in rows four feet apart, if 

 on poor soil ; on rich soil they need more space." 



'' Atrvplex painparmn and A. each ii/uij urn, (these two species are now 

 stated to be identical) are two tall-growing species of saltbushes, new to 

 North America and natives of Argentina. They have shown much 

 endurance of droughts and frosts, and produce a large amount of ex- 

 cellent forage on extremely poor soils. As far as tested, they yield 

 somewhat less than A. nummularia; but further experience may show 

 them to be more voluable than that species. The plants have not yet 

 seeded here." 



" Two rhagodias, R,. spinescens inermis and R. linifolia, have shown 

 great forage value at this sub-station, and also great endurance of 

 drought and frosts, besides containing less salt in their leaves, so that 

 horses, which do not always like the atriplexes, are more fond of the 

 rhagodias. These plants promise more vahie in the Paso Robles region 

 than at Tulare, where, while growing well, the yield is not proportion- 

 ately as profitable. This is especially so in the case of R. linifolia, which 

 makes a larger plant in the Coast Range on poor soils than at Tulare 

 sub-station on alkali lands." 



" At present the only plantations of saltbushes existing in the 

 region outside the sub-station consist of Atriplex semihaccata. The 

 largest of these is fifteen acres in extent, near Cholame, but there are 

 many of one acre and upwards. The rhagodias and saltbushes herein 

 recommended can very easily be naturalised over a wide area, and with 

 the prostrate A. semihaccata will not only enable farmers to carry their 

 livestock through dry seasons, but will afford more dry-land forage per 

 acre than any other plants tested at the sub-station." 



