CHOPPED SOAPWEED AS EMERGENCY FEED. . 13 



slight effect of scouring on an. occasional animal after the time the 

 sap began to rise, but this was exceptional. 



To determine any ill effects upon the digestive tract of the animal 

 from feeding with soapweed, two range steers, one 4 and the other 5 

 years of age, were fed all the soapweed and cottonseed meal, in the 

 proportion of 1 pound of meal to 15 of soapweed, that they would 

 eat. One steer was fed for 65 days and the other for 87 days. The 

 average daily consumption was slightly over 50 pounds. Both steers 

 were butchered and carefully examined as to the effect of the feed 

 on the digestive tract and on the meat. All the thoracic and abdomi- 

 nal viscera in both steers were normal. The fluidity of the viscera 

 was marked, which may have been due in part to the ration of soap- 

 weed. The mucous membranes of the first, third, and fourth stom- 

 achs had a marked soapy appearance and touch. The fat was of good 

 color and a firm- consistency. The quality of the meat was first- 

 class — tender and juicy. There was no evidence whatever, either in 

 the meat or in the fat, that soapweed was the principal ration, and 

 no impaction or other irregularity was found in the digestive tract. 



FATTENING ON SOAPWEED AND COTTONSEED MEAL. 



Of the two steers mentioned above, the one fed 65 days, a grade 

 Angus, weighed 1,164 pounds on foot when butchered, having gained 

 approximately 200 pounds in the 65-day period. The dressed car- 

 cass of this steer was 53.9 per cent of the live weight. The other, a 

 native Mexico steer, weighed only 850 pounds and made no gain 

 after the first 60 days of feeding. It dressed 52.9 per «ent of the live 

 weight. 



The greatest value of soapweed is undoubtedly as an emergency- 

 maintenance ration, and the* available supply should be conserved 

 for this use instead of being utilized for fattening purposes. 



GROWTH HABITS OF SOAPWEED. 



Soapweed (Yucca elata 1 ), or " palmilla," as it is called by the 

 Spanish-speaking people of the Southwest, is one of the most com- 



1 Yucca elata Engelm., according to Wooton and Standley (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 19: 135. 1915), is distinguished from the other New Mexican yuccas (of which 8 species 

 in all are listed) by its treelike habit, the naked woody stems in old plants attaining a 

 height of " 3 to 4 meters" (10 to 14 feet), by its narrow leaves (1 inch wide or less), 

 and by its much-branched compound flower clusters.' 



Y. elata has long, slender, yellowish-green, flat, and fibrous-margined leaves, which 

 readily distinguish it from the " Joshua tree " of southern California, southern Utah, 

 and Arizona, Yucca arborescens Trelease (—Clistoyucca brevifolia (Engelm.) Rydb.). The 

 leaves of Y. arborescens are short, stout, bluish green, concave above the middle, thick- 

 ened, and minutely toothed ; furthermore, the fruit of Y. arborescens is coated with a 

 thin, dry pulp instead of being wholly devoid of flesh, the petals are much thicker', and 

 the stigmas are not stalked. 



The often treelike Mohave yucca (Y. mohavensis Sargent) of southern California and 

 Arizona has leaves often about 2 feet long and 3 inches wide (much longer, wider, and 



