154 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



appearance of the plant is something like that of a large pineapple, 

 growing on a trunk 2 to 5 feet high. The portion eaten is the inner 

 cabbage-like heart, which remains after the spiny leaves have been 

 cut off. An analysis of this shows that it contains about 12 per cent 

 of sugar and gum and about 3 per cent of crude protein, besides 65 

 per cent of water. No attempt has been made to cultivate sotol, and 

 it is becoming exterminated in many portions of its range. Sheep 

 can exist upon it four or five months in the winter without access 

 to water, so that it would be an excellent forage plant for dissemina- 

 tion and cultivation in arid regions where the winters are not too 

 severe. 



Spiny Salt Sage (Atriplex conferti folia) . A perennial, spread- 

 ing shrub, with numerous short, thick leaves and spiny branches. 

 It grows 2 or 3 feet high in clumps 4 to 6 or 8 feet in diameter. 

 The leaves and fruits drop off in autumn and are collected in the 

 depressions of the surface or form little wind drifts behind the 

 bushes. These piles of leaves and seeds are the first to be eaten by 

 the sheep and cattle when they enter the winter pastures. The 

 spiny branches are also browsed to the ground. This salt sage is 

 apparently more resistant to strong alkali than almost any of the 

 others, as it often occurs on "greasewood lands" containing a large 

 amount of sal soda. It grows from the Dakotas, Montana, and Idaho 

 southward to Mexico. 



Spring Vetch (Vicia sativa). This has been tried in nearly all 

 the States and has proved very unsatisfactory, except for certain 

 districts in New England, New York, northern Michigan, Wis- 

 consin, and lower Canada. Showy Vetch (Lathyrus ornatus). This 

 is common in Nebraka and westward; the green pods and peas are 

 used as a vegetable and the plant is grazed by cattle. Slender Bog 

 Rush (Juncus tennis) A slender, tufted, wiry rush, 6 to 18 inches 

 high, with leaves about 6 inches long; common in the prairie region. 

 Though rather tough and wiry, it is readily eaten by stock. Small 

 flowered Vetch ( Vicia micrantha) . A smooth vetch with four to six 

 linear obtuse leaflets, common in the South; it is eaten by cattle 

 and should be grown under improved conditions. Sneezeweed 

 (Helenium tenutfoliwm) A very common woody plant in Southern 

 pastures and old fields. It is readily eaten by stock, but can hardly 

 be called a forage plant because it makes milk bitter. Spiny Sida 

 (Sida spinosa) A weed of the Mallow family in the Southern 

 States. It has been recommended as a good crop for renewing worn 

 lands and makes very fair winter grazing for cattle. Spurred But- 

 terfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum) A twining perennial bean 

 with trifoliate leaves and large, showy violet flowers an inch long; 

 the pods are 4 to 5 inches long, many-seeded, and marked with a 

 raised line on each side next the margin. Common in sandy woods 

 in the United States. Spurrey (Spergula arvensis). An annual, 

 producing a low, tangled mass of succulent stems with numerous 

 whorled linear leaves. It produces a crop in eight or ten weeks, and 

 is valuable as a catch crop in short seasons, and for soiling sheep 

 and milch cows. It has been especially recommended as a first crop 



