CHOPPED SOAPWEED AS EMERGENCY FEED. 6 



tall. Both the stalks and the flowers are palatable. The stalks begin 

 to make their appearance early in May, and the stalks and flowers 

 are good forage until late in June. Cattle thrive on them. Besides, 

 they are so succulent that cattle grazing on them can go several days 

 without water. This makes possible the use, for a short period at 

 least, of range which otherwise might not be utilized on account of 

 its great distance from water. The value of the bloom crop is in- 

 creased by the fact that it occurs during a critical season when other 

 forage usually is scarce and the stock is in poor condition. Without 

 it, it would be difficult in many cases to carry the stock through until 

 the summer rains. The main drawback is the uncertainty of a full 

 crop. Large crops occur at intervals of several years, usually in the 

 spring following a rainy autumn. However, some of the plants 

 bloom each year, so that a small annual supply can be depended 

 upon. 



The young leaves or growing tips of the soapweed stems also are 

 valuable for forage immediately after growth has started in the 

 spring. It is common to see a cow go from one plant to another 

 biting out the center or growing tips. 



The value of soapweed as stock forage in its native state on the 

 ran£e makes it desirable, other things being equal, to use range sup- 

 porting the heaviest stands of soapweed during the winter and 

 spring. This practice, of course, should vary so as to secure the 

 maximum use of the most important forage plants on the area. 



Close observation during the winter, spring, and early summer on 

 closely grazed cattle ranges where soapweed occurs in any abundance 

 will convince anyone that soapweed is valuable as a range forage 

 plant. Even when grazed to the best advantage, however, it does not 

 adequately meet the requirements of .an emergency feed. The nour- 

 ishment obtained from grazing the leaves alone is not sufficient to 

 tide an animal over for more than a very short period, and drought 

 may make it necessary to give additional feed to stock long before 

 the growth of the soapweed begins. 



CUT SOAPWEED AS EMERGENCY FEED. 



PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS. 



Investigations to determine the practicability of cutting and feed- 

 ing soapweed were begun at the Jornada Range Reserve in 1$15. In 

 December, 1915, approximately 150 tons of the heads and leaf por- 

 tions were gathered and run. through an ordinary ensilage cutter into 

 a pit silo. In March, 1916, the silo was opened and about 10 tons 

 of the soapweed ensilage was fed to poor cows over a. period of sev- 

 eral weeks. The results of the feeding were encouraging, although 



