8 BULLETIN" 745, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



plants appears to follow from standing several days after burning, 

 and by burning several days ahead, of the cutting, it is possible to 

 avoid days when the wind is high. 



Where there is danger of fire spreading over the range, burning 

 should be done after the plants have been hauled to the chopping 

 machine and arranged on- the ground. To avoid undue shrinkage, 

 the plants should be placed in rows two plants wide with the butts 

 together and the green tops to the outside. This precaution prevents 

 fire from becoming hot enough to burn the green leaves or succulent 

 stem, and keeps the shrinkage down to about 30 per cent of the 

 original weight. Where the plants are scattered thickly over the 

 ground (PI. II, fig. 2) burning results in a shrinkage of about 40 per 

 cent, the increase being due to the fire's becoming hot enough to burn 

 the green leaves. 



SELECTING AND CUTTING THE PLANTS IN THE FIELD. 



On the Jornada Range Reserve plants 36 inches or less In height 

 were not cut, and occasionally plants tall enough for the seed stalks 

 to be out of the reach of cattle were left for seeding. The plants 

 under 36 inches were left on the range partly as a protection for 

 the soil against wind erosion, partly because they furnish consider- 

 able grazing until the growing tips, seed stalks, and flowers are 

 beyond the reach of cattle, and partly because small plants can not 

 be handled in the feeding operations as economically as larger ones. 



The plants were cut at the surface of the ground. Investigations 

 are under way to determine whether this procedure should be modi- 

 fied in order to insure the production of new growth in the minimum 

 time. After cutting, the new leaves begin growth just below the 

 ground surface, and it may be necessary to leave a small portion 

 of the stem above ground. 



HAULING THE PLANTS TO THE CHOPPING MACHINE. 



As the plants were cut they were loaded upon a wide rack and 

 arranged in orderly rows, so as to make the most effective use of 

 space and facilitate unloading. Both loading and unloading are 

 done most conveniently by hand. 



Where the feeding operations are on a rather extensive scale a 

 crew can be kept cutting and hauling continually. A crew of four 

 men with two 4-mule teams for hauling can work to good advan- 

 tage. One man acting as foreman directs the operations, selects 

 the plants for cutting, and burns off the dead leaves, if burning is 

 done before the plants are cut. Two men with axes cut the plants 

 and pass them up to a third man, who arranges them on the rack 

 and drives the team. A crew of this size can select, burn, cut, and 

 haul four loads, approximately 8 tons, per day where the haul is 

 not over c l\ miles. 



