GRASS AND HAY 157 



borne on erect stems 4 to 12 inches high appear from February to 

 April, according to the season, at a time when there is no other green 

 feed, and the whole plant is greedily eaten by cattle and sheep. It 

 is said that there is no other arid-land plant which will put so much 

 fat on a sheep's kidneys in so short a time. Tallow weed deserves a 

 thorough trial in cultivation. Tarweed (Madia sativa) A rank- 

 growing annual, native to both Chile and California, which has been 

 recommended as an excellent summer forage for sheep. The leaves 

 are clammy with viscid exudation, and the plant has a rank odor. 

 Its chief merit is its rapid growth. It has been cultivated in the arid. 

 Southwest and California. An excellent lubricating oil is extracted 

 from the seeds. Ten-finger (Lupinus rivularis) A common lupine in 

 the Cascade Moutains of Oregon. The forage is eagerly eaten by sheep. 

 Texas Beggarweed (Desrnodium paniculatum) A tall, slender 

 leafy legume, native in west Texas. It makes an excellent quality of 

 feed for stock, and when growing thick enough to mow is convertible 

 into first-class hay. It thrives best on low, moist soils, but occurs 

 also on the drier uplands. It resembles the Florida Beggarweed 

 in general appearance and ought to be tried in cultivation to find out 

 whether it would do as well in the semi-arid Southwest as that plant 

 does in Florida. Texas Pea (Astragalus nuttallianus) A perennial, 

 like the ground plum in habit and general appearance, but with 

 narrow, curved, bladdery seed- pods on an upright stem. It is 

 abundant in central and northern Texas, preferring the drier ridges 

 and stony hills, while the ground plum grows best in moister valley 

 lands. It is much relished by cattle and is disappearing wherever 

 the ranges have been overstocked. It grows well on cultivated land, 

 increasing in height and amount of seed produced, thus indicating 

 adaptability to improved conditions. The seeds ripen about the 1st 

 of May, after which the leaves and stems die down and, becoming 

 brittle, are broken to pieces and blown away. On the ranges the 

 Texas pea supplies a large amount of highly nitrogenous forage in 

 early spring, when such feed is most needed. Tsama Melon (Citrul- 

 lus vulgaris) A wild watermelon from the Kalahari Desert in South 

 Africa. There are two kinds native to this great waterless desert 

 one with bitter fruits, the other with sweet watery ones. Seeds of 

 the latter were secured by the Department of Agriculture and were 

 cultivated in 1898 at the Arizona Experiment Station with a view 

 to securing seeds for a more general distribution. The Tsama melons 

 are round, about 4 inches in diameter, and are produced in the 

 greatest abundance. In the Kalahari Desert they form at times the 

 only source of water for travelers crossing this great "Thirstland," 

 and the herds of antelope that roam these wastes subsist upon them. 

 They are especially adapted to withstand great extremes of tempera- 

 ture and drought, and hence would be valuable for wide introduc- 

 tion through the deserts of Arizona and southern California. Al- 

 though small, the fruits supply both food and drink for stock and 

 the passing traveler. Tumble or Rolling Pigweed (Amaranthus 

 blitoides) A spreading, branching annual which comes up on 

 newly broken ground, and with other weedy species is readily eaten 



