Wyoming Experiment Station. 



INTRODUCTION. 



REASONS FOR TAKING UP EXPERIMENTS. 



For a number of years it has been the desire of the direc- 

 tor of this station to have digestion experiments carried on 

 with forage grown in Wyoming, and the need of such data 

 as may be derived from these experiments has been felt more 

 and more as feeding experiments were carried on. 



It was not until the fall of 1904 that conditions shaped 

 themseh^es in such a way that this class of work could be 

 conducted with any degree of satisfaction. At that time the 

 investigations of the composition of forage plants were begun, 

 the analyses of a number of which have been published in Bul- 

 letin No. 66, "Wyoming Forage Plants and Their Chemical 

 Composition Studies No. i," and after that work was well 

 started the digestion work was begun. 



For years it has been confidently asserted that the forage 

 of the arid west is the most nutritious in the world. To prove 

 this, stockmen have pointed to the condition of the animals 

 feeding upon it. Does this assertion rest upon anything more 

 than local pride? Should this opinion be held for all kinds of 

 forage, or merely for a few ? What are the comparative values 

 of rushes, sedges, and grasses? If there is a difference in 

 quality, what is this difference and how will it affect relative 

 values in view of the varying quantities which may be pro- 

 duced of each? Are other classes of forage, such as the 

 legumes and salt-bushes, also to be included in the general 

 commendation? Are these also better in the arid region than 

 in more humid localities? 



These and numerous other questions are of vital import- 

 ance to those who would conduct farm and ranch operations 



