146 



DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



native and Australian salt bushes to have the following digestion 

 coefficients, according to the results obtained in trials with sheep : 23 



According to Jaffa, 24 sheep and cattle have subsisted altogether 

 on salt bushes through an entire season, and sheep feeders and cattle 

 men report favorably as to their nutritive value when eaten in con- 

 nection with hay and grain feeds. 



Spineless cacti (species of Opuntia, Fig. 26) and prickly pears 



Fig. 26. — Spineless cactus yields large crops of a very watery feed under favorable con- 

 ditions; it is, as a rule, well liked by cattle, hogs and poultry. 



are desert plants used as a. forage for cattle in cases of emer- 

 gencies, and occasionally in a limited way as a regular forage crop. 

 There are many varieties of cacti used for this purpose, some with, 

 some without spines. The former are generally singed with a spe- 

 cial gasoline torch before being fed to farm animals, while the 

 latter are fed directly, either whole or after being run through a 



w Bulletins 93 and 135. 



24 California Bulletin 132; Farmers' Bui. 108 and 374; U. S. Dept. 

 Agr. Bui. 617. The chemical composition and digestibility of the main 

 native range plants , have been studied by the Nevada Station ( Bulletins 

 62, 64 and 71) and the Wyoming Station (Bulletins 65, 70, 78 and 79). 



