7a -> 
we kat 
SALTBUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES IN THE UNITED STATES 5 
lected on the edge of an alkali flat near Lordsburg, N. Mex., Septem- 
ber 23, 1906. 
Composition (moisture-free basis) 
Sample Moisture | 
Naty Ether | Crude | [N uh os | Protein | Pente- 
extract | fiber etna sans 
Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent 
Department 8560 (G)___-______- 1.9 Dont 1.8 23. 4 42.4 8.7 18. 4 
Department 8566 (G)___________ 3.5 24. 4 1.8 | 220 37.0 14. 1 | FAY, 
This species, browsed freely by cattle, is an important forage crop 
where it grows. 
ATRIPLEX ARGENTEA Nutt. 
Atriplex argentea is a typical tumbleweed, reaching a height and 
spread of 2 feet or more when mature. It is a leafy, branched 
annual. Its numeroug leaves, 1 inch or 2 inches wide, are broadly 
oval or heart-shaped, and, like the stems, are scurfy-gray or almost 
silvery-white. 
As individuals or in small patches, it grows, usually on the poorer 
- soils, from the Missouri River westward through Wyoming, Mon- 
tana, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho to Oregon, and south to northern 
Arizona and New Mexico, pr incipally on the plains or in the valleys. 
It endures an excess of alkali in the soil and may be expected to 
put a crop of edible forage on the alkaline lands. It seeds freely 
and requires but a small supply of water for growth. 
Composition (water-free basis) 
Mois- 
eae ture h Ether Crude Nitro- 
As gen-free | Protein 
extract fiber | extract 
Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cenit | Per cent 
BOOT GO) (CML ee eg a er a Sue 29. 4 eS 28.9 | 38. 9 10.3 
NVSY O RITATA (Gl) Secor ee ie 8 6. 2 18. 5 te 29. 7 37.4 13. 5 
Although of itself Ho a good feed, this species would probably be 
of some value when mixed with other range plants. Extended tests 
on hay made from A. volutans A. Nels., sometimes called tumbling 
saltbush (79), using sheep, were made at the Colorado experiment 
station. A pronounced increase in the quantity of water used by the 
animals and an increased voidance of urine, with variable losses in 
weight, were shown 
ATRIPLEX BREWERI S. Wats. 
Atriplex breweri is a shrub, 6 feet high or more, with numerous 
leaves, rather large for the genus, gray-green owing to their whitish 
mealy coating, and stems almost white when young. The small and 
nearly circular seed pods, without marginal teeth, are produced 
in large spreading clusters on the ends of ‘the branches. 
