ROOTS, TUBERS, AND OTHER SUCCULENT FEEDS 145 



feeding value equivalent to 20 pounds of alfalfa hay, 15 pounds of 

 corn or barley, or 18 pounds of wheat bran. 21 



A number of by-products are obtained in fruit-growing districts 

 which are of some value locally for feeding pigs and other stock 

 during the summer or fall, like unripe or cull fruit, apple-, grape-, 

 and olive pomace, almond hulls, etc. 



Range and Desert Plants. — The common plants growing in the 

 deserts and arid mountain ranges of western United States are sage 

 brush, greasewood and species of salt bush (Atriplex). These plants 

 are able to grow in the regions mentioned because of their ability to 

 withstand extreme drought and a considerable amount of alkali in 

 the soil which would kill other vegetation. Sheep and other stock 

 are, however, able to browse on these plants and derive considerable 

 nourishment from them. Their value for stock feeding is not defi- 

 nitely known, as but few chemical analyses or digestion trials have 

 been made with them, and there are no comparative feeding trials 

 on record with these plants. The Arizona Experiment Station has 

 published analyses of salt bushes and greasewood 22 which show 

 that they contain high percentages of crude protein, fiber, and ash, 

 with medium amounts of nitrogen-free extract and fat. The fol- 

 lowing average results were obtained in the analyses of different 

 range forage crops: • >t - , 



As in the case of all plants growing in arid regions, the percent- 

 age of ash in the forage plants is very high, but the fiber content is 

 no higher than in average grades of hay, except in the case of the 

 water grass. According to the results of the chemical analyses made, 

 greasewood contains more protein and no more fiber than alfalfa hay 

 of good quality, but, in the absence of digestion experiments and 

 carefully-conducted feeding trials, definite judgment cannot be pro- 

 nounced as to its nutritive value. The Colorado station found the 



21 A table showing the comparative values of fresh and dried fruits and 

 hay, grains, etc., is published in California Bulletin 132, p. 52; see also 

 Woll, " Handbook for Farmers and Dairymen," p. 19. 



23 Report, 1903, p. 349. 



10 



