CHOPPED SOAPWEED AS EMERGENCY FEED. 19 



grass or browse pasture and 1J pounds of cottonseed cake per day, 

 especially where securing labor is a difficult problem. 



Poor cattle should not be fed all the soapweed feed they will eat 

 the first few days on feed, since there is a slight danger of loss from 

 bloating until they become accustomed to the feed. 



Choking may occur as a result of a cow trying to swallow too large 

 a particle of the soapweed. This is only occasional, however, and can 

 be avoided by the use of a machine that cuts the feed properly. 



There is no cumulative ill effect on the digestive tract of cattle fed 

 on the soapweed over a long period. Neither is there any harmful 

 purgative effect from the soapweed, except occasional scouring when 

 feeding is continued after the sap begins to rise in the plant. On 

 the contrary, the soapweed tends to keep the digestive tract of the 

 animals in good condition. It is possible that the occasional scour- 

 ing effect may be overcome by delaying the chopping of the plants 

 into feed until they have been allowed to dry out for several days 

 after the dry leaves are burned. This, however, is a suggestion only, 

 as it has not been tried in practice. 



The soapweed is found from western Texas to southern Arizona 

 It reaches its average height and heaviest stands on the sandy soils 

 usually occupied also by the black grama grass of the region. It is 

 one of the slow-growing drought-resistant plants, and although it re- 

 produces by sprouts from the old roots it probably requires 10 years 

 for such sprouts to become tall enough for a profitable second cutting. 



The soapweed has some value as a protection for cattle against 

 storms and against the heat of the sun. 



Soapweed is slow-growing, occupies a soil highly subject to wind 

 erosion, and is a protection to stock, so that it is advisable to use the 

 plant only as emergency feed. Only the larger plants should be 

 selected for cutting, the smaller ones being left to protect the soil. 

 Occasional plants tall enough for the blooms to be out of the reach 

 of cattle should be left for seed plants and as a protection for stock. 



Small soapweed, or bear grass (Yucca glauca), and sacahuista 

 (Nolina microcarpa and N. erumpens) are somewhat similar to the 

 soapweed, the small soapweed being found slightly farther north. 

 It is possible that the greatest use of these plants for feed will be 

 as ensilage. 



Sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri and D. texanum) furnish feed for cattle 

 about equal in value to soapweed when similarly chopped and pre- 

 pared, but its limited distribution and slow reproduction restrict 

 its importance as an emergency stock feed. 



Methods of converting the soapweed into stock feed are not yet 

 thoroughly developed, and will doubtless be improved upon. More 

 data on the rate of growth, which it will take several years to acquire, 



