°6 BULLETIN 1345, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
September 11, 1915, contained, on an air-dry basis, 5.3 per cent of 
moisture, and, on a water-free basis, 22.1 per cent of ash, 3.6 per 
cent of ether extract, 16.2 per cent of crude fiber, 41.1 per cent of 
nitrogen-free extract, 17 per cent of protein, and 13 per cent of 
pentosans. 
K. vestita is one of the alkali-resistant desert plants that form 
the winter feed of the migratory bands of sheep visiting the Great 
Basin region when snow is on the ground. 
SALSOLA PESTIFER A. Nels. 
The Russian thistle (Sa/sola pestifer) is an introduced tumble- 
weed, bearing no resemblance and having no close botanical relation- 
ship to the plants commonly known as thistles. It is an annual 
weed that has spread widely over the waste lands of the arid and 
semiarid West, where it has become a pest in nearly all the towns 
and on the farms, particularly on fallow lands. 
Fig. 1.—Stack of Russian thistle hay near Wheatland, Wyo. Another cutting, 
surrounding the stack, is about ready for the mower 
Department sample 8360 (G) consists of plants in full bloom and 
beginning to get prickly, collected at Winslow, Ariz., June 1, 1906. 
Department sample 9321 (G) consists of young and tender ‘stems, 
8 to 10 inches long, in full bloom, collected at Canon City, Tex., 
June 28, 1908. 
Composition (water-free basis) 
Sample Moisture Ni | 
Nitrogen- 
NSE Ether Crude tba Protein Pento- 
extract | fiber extract sans 
Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent 
Department 8360 (G)__--._------ 6.4 28. 4 1.8 14.1 | 36. 3 19. 4 8.7 
Department 9321 (G)_----___-__ 5.3 26. 0 1.6 14. 5 41.1 16.8 9.6 
Colorado (1/2) and Iowa (32) 
(12samples) 6282 seeee= eee oe 60. 5 20. 1 21 22. 6 41.0 14,2) eos a ne 
AVCTAPC ts foe ae p20, Fale 2.0 21. 4 | 40. 7 14,3 icc atest 
Although the country would be much better off without it, the 
Russian thistle has some use as forage. While young before the 
stems and leaves get stiff, sheep and cattle eat ‘it freely, and do 
as well on it as on other forage plants. In the dry-farming areas 
