——— ee ee 
SALTBUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES IN THE UNITED STATES ( 
collected near State College, N. Mex., February, 1915. Samples 7234 
and 7235 were collected in the a adla of the winter to show the 
value of such feed after it has been frozen and thawed many times, 
in which condition it is eaten by stock. 
Composition (water-free basis) 
Sample | Moisture 
Tate N iizopen., 
Ether Crude : Pento- 
Ash : i free Protein ; 
extract fiber eaiener sans 
Per cent | Per cent | Percent | Per cent | Per cent:| Per cent | Per cent 
Department 8342 (G)___________ 8.0 eres 1.6 16. 0 43.8 | 21.3 PPA Fi 
Department 7234 (W)___---_--- 6.6 20. 8 diets DEY 38. 0 14. 0 18.6 
Department 7235 (W)_________- 7.0 17.4 1.6 20. 6 42.5 17.9 14. 6 
Nevada (3) and Arizona (8)___- 6, 4 | 16. 3 2.4 21. 2 40. 8 14: 3% |: asec 
Averages 2-258. By yeeys 6.9 | 17.6 Liaise] 9 2268 AL. 2 | IB) soe 
—__ a 
On all parts of its area of distribution, this species is eaten freely 
by every kind of range stock except horses. As its leaves do not 
fall in winter and as it puts out leaves in the spring, whether there 
is any rain or not, it is valuable as a browse plant when éther feed 
is poor. It is also an important browse plant when the smaller 
forage plants are covered by snow. Fleming (5) conducted some 
feeding experiments with this species. Sheep fed from 214 to 414 
pounds of the green plants became sick, but those which received 4 
pounds of the ‘dried plants showed no ill effects. A yearling calf 
fed 2 pounds of this material showed no undesirable symptoms. 
At the New Mexico agricultural experiment station (9) a num- 
ber of cows were fed on this species for several months, with satis- 
factory results. This station therefore recommends the plants as a 
source of reserve or emergency food. 
ATRIPLEX CONFERTIFOLIA (Torr.) S. Wats. 
Atriplex confertifolia (Pl. IIT, fig. 2), the shadscale of Utah and 
Nevada, is a rigid, much-branched bush, 1 to 2 feet high, and almost 
as broad. The ends of its branches are spiny, and its small, rounded 
or ovate leaves are crowded thick on the stems, a characteristic that 
has been noted in the scientific name. Like most of the saltbushes 
of the desert region, it is ash-gray or almost white, owing to the 
scurfy covering on its leaves and young stems. The expanded bracts 
of the fruits resemble closely the leaves, thus making the fruit hard 
to see. The sharp-pointed, stiff branches have given rise to the name 
spiny saltbush, which is occasionally used in the literature. 
The species was described from material collected near Great Salt 
Lake, where the plant is very common. It grows on alkaline souls, 
along the hillsides and on the plains of the Great Basin region, from 
Idaho and W yoming through Utah and Nevada, reaching California 
on the west, Colorado and New Mexico on the east, and parts of 
Arizona and northern Mexico on the south. 
Department sample 8338 (G) consists of stems and leaves of the 
year from pistillate plants in bloom, collected near Barstow, Calif., 
May 29, 1906. Sample 7229 (W) consists of mature stems, leaves, 
and fruit, collected on the plains northeast of Lucin, Utah, Septem- 
ber 11, 1915, 
