CERTAIN DESERT PLANTS AS EMERGENCY STOCK FEED. 5 



There are two machines in which the cutting is done by a set of 

 small teeth screwed into the face of the cylinder and so arranged that 

 each tooth strikes at a different time, all taken together cutting across 

 the full width of the cylinder. Both these are modifications of the 

 ordinary wood-pulping "hog," the essential differences being merely 

 those of the size and shape of the teeth. These machines are smaller 

 than the first one mentioned and require an engine of 6 to 8 horse- 

 power to operate them satisfactorily, though both are actually being 

 used with engines that furnish less power than this. They both shred 

 the stalks of the soap weed into small pieces that cattle may eat freely 

 without any danger of impaction. (PI. II, fig. 2.) Each machine is 

 fed by hand from a vertical hopper, the weight of the stalks helping 

 to keep them against the teeth. The output from either of these 

 machines running at about the rate which might be expected in 

 practice is approximately 1 ton of chopped feed per hour. 



The fourth machine has a set of triangular knives, something like 

 the knives on the cutter bar of a mowing machine, bolted to the face 

 of the cylinder, each knife being raised above the surface of the 

 cylinder by a narrow triangular steel block about three-fourths of an 

 inch thick, through which the bolts pass. These knives slice the stalk 

 into sections one-half to three-fourths of an inch thick, cutting the 

 fibers into short pieces. In its latest form the knives are diamond 

 shaped and reversible, while the machine is fed from a troughlike 

 hopper inclined at about 45°. In its earlier form this machine had a 

 horizontal mechanical feed, but the makers have ceased to furnish 

 this heavier and more expensive cutter. Machines of this kind may 

 be expected to cut from 10 to 12 tons per day. This cutter has never 

 received a distinctive name, but it is manufactured at Deming, 

 N. Mex. (PL I, fig. 1.) 



The earlier machines were constructed so they could be mounted 

 with a gas engine on wheels and moved from place to place. Experi- 

 ence has shown that in most cases it is easier to set up the cutter at 

 the corral and run it by the engine that pumps the water for the live 

 stock. All the very poor cattle have to be fed at the watering place, 

 because they are usually too weak to walk very far for water. The 

 newer and smaller machines may be had with or without a frame for 

 use on a wagon. 



The Office of Forage-Crop Investigations of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, will be glad to 

 answer any inquiries regarding machines and their manufacturers and 

 to furnish any additional information in its possession regarding the 

 use of desert plants as emergency stock feed. 



The important conclusions to be drawn from the available data 

 relative to each of these machines are (1 ) that they will do the work 

 required of them; (2) that they are so constructed as to be operated 

 easily by the kind of labor available; (3) that they may be had at 



