SALT-BUSHES 55 



good forage plant. Sheep and cattle are particularly fond of 

 its succulent stems and leaves, which not only provide good 

 feed, but assuage the thirst of the animals that eat them 

 a great consideration in dry seasons in the interior. When 

 growing on good country it produces in a short time a great 

 amount of herbage, and on that account is well worth system- 

 atic conservation and even cultivation. Under ordinary 

 conditions this plant freely produces seed which ripens during 

 the summer and autumn. 



The above brief descriptions of some of the most pro- 

 minent pasture herbs indigenous to Australia will give an 

 excellent idea of the great importance of these plants in the 

 pastures, and the necessity of systematically conserving them 

 in order to keep the grazing areas in a suitable condition for 

 feeding stock. 



SALT-BUSHES. 



Old-Man Salt-Bush (Atriplex nummularia) is one of the 

 tallest and best known members of this family. It occurs over 

 a greater part of the interior of Australia, but it is not nearly 

 as plentiful as formerly, and is becoming scarce in those dis- 

 tricts that are carrying much stock, for most herbivora, 

 except horses, eat it readily, and do well on it, when it is 

 partaken of in conjunction with other herbage. In a natural 

 state it usually grows from six to ten feet high ; but occa- 

 sionally I have seen it attain a height of fifteen feet or more 

 under cultivation. It has numerous spreading branches, 

 which are clothed with fairly large, thick, succulent, almost 



