— 
SALTBUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES IN THE UNITED STATES 15 
Composition (water-free basis) 
| | j 
: | Nitrogen-| 
Ether Crude s : 
extract fiber | free ‘ Protein 
| extract 
| 
Sample ‘Moisture 
Pento- 
Ash apne 
Per cent | Percent | Per cent | Percent | Per cent | Percent | Per cen 
Department 8883 (G)__________- Aa 13. 3 ibe) 27.0 47.2 10.8 ibe, 
acartnent 1206: GW) 2. 52. 4.8 1185, 8° 1.3 28. 1 48.1 9.2 20. 6 
A. rosea, although not a dominant plant over extended areas, is 
eaten by both cattle and sheep wherever it grows. Fleming (4) 
conducted feeding experiments with this species. A yearling calf 
fed 1214 pounds showed no ill effects; a sheep receiving 1 pound a 
day for six days lost 7 pounds in weight, although it had free access 
to alfalfa all the time; a second sheep fed 1 pound was slightly sick; 
and a third sheep fed 2 pounds died. These results indicate that 
certain saltbushes are sometimes poisonous to sheep. 
ATRIPLEX SEMIBACCATA R. Br." 
Atriplex semibaccata is the plant usually referred to in the literature 
in the United States (8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23, 26) as the Australian 
saltbush, although several Australian species of the genus Atriplex 
have been tried at different places. Just where the vernacular name 
originated has not been learned. To call this plant a saltbush is 
very misleading, in the ordinary meaning of the word bush, as it 
is not a shrub. Even its roots are perennial only in the warmer 
parts of the semiarid West. Its stems are slender, prostrate, vine- 
hike, and herbaceous, making a thick matlike rosette, from 18 
inches to several feet in diameter, depending upon the conditions 
under which it is grown. 
After thorough tests in the California experiment station, it was 
extensively introduced into parts of California. It has been tried 
with more or less success in a number of western States. It has 
escaped from cultivation rather sparingly in southern California, 
Arizona, and New Mexico, but it is not very aggressive. The ex- 
haustive tests to which it has been subjected show it to be suited to a 
warm, dry climate, a medium amount of water, and an alkaline soil. 
In such places it may be expected to put a medium to heavy crop of 
fairly good forage on land that otherwise would be almost valueless, 
the size of the crop depending largely upon the amount of water 
available. 
Department sample 9646 (G) consists of the succulent growth of 
the year, not yet in fruit, collected on the hills back of San Diego, 
Calif., April 1, 1909. Department sample 7035 (W) consists of 
plants not yet in fruit, growing vigorously, collected at East Bakers- 
field, Calif., where they had escaped from cultivation, March 18, 
1912. 
13 A, flagellaris Wooten and Standley. 
