22 BULLETIN 728, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



asked for the results of his experience. Thirty more or less complete 

 records were obtained in this way, and those which gave conclusive 

 evidence with respect to machine-chopped soap weed are included in 

 Table II. A number of them recounted the experience of men who 

 were cutting sotol or bear-grass by hand. 



There is absolute unanimity of opinion that soap weed, sotol, 

 bear-grass of either kind, or sacahuista if fed in sufficient quantity 

 and given to the stock before they get very weak from starvation 

 will save them in every instance. 



Stockmen of the region all recognize the advantage of the machines. 

 One man who had used one of them for some time, in conversation 

 with a neighbor, asked if his friend had a machine. The latter 

 replied that he had not yet bought one, and the experienced man 

 said, "Well, buy two." 



Records of the sale of 80 machines up to March 31, 1918, were 

 obtained from the makers, and orders for several more had already 

 been received. 



The total number of stock being fed one or another of these feeds 

 in 1918 whose owners were interviewed by the writer was 16,298 

 besides 885 that had been fed hand-chopped material in 1917. It 

 was the general opinion of the men who were feeding that from 

 75 to 90 per cent of these weaker animals would have died if they 

 had not been fed. The animals that were being fed constituted from 

 30 to 100 per cent of the different herds to which they belonged. 

 Almost all of these men were feeding some cottonseed cake or meal 

 (they expressed various differences of opinion as to which is better) 

 if they could get it. But several said their stock were already 

 beginning to go down on cake alone when they commenced feeding 

 soap weed, and the animals at once showed improvement. 



The additional expense of feeding cake or meal may be easily 

 calculated from the amount fed per day and the price of the feed 

 at the ranch. This price varied this year from 2 J to 3f cents per 

 pound, and the amount fed varies from one-half pound for young 

 stock to 2 pounds for mature breeding animals, with an average of 

 about 1 pound per head per day. 



IMPORTANCE OF EMERGENCY FEEDS. 



The best measure of the importance of this subject is shown by 

 the numbers of animals involved. These numbers give some con- 

 ception of the possible losses that may be avoided by the feeding. 

 The only figures available for Arizona and New Mexico are the 

 United States Department of Agriculture reports of range cattle and 

 sheep for the various counties where these feeds occur. (See Table 

 III.) These figures are furnished by the field agents of the Bureau 

 of Crop Estimates. 1 



i Mr. L. M. Harrison for Arizona and Dr. E. F. Hare for New Mexico. 



