CHENOPODIACEAE 



never allowed to grow more than a foot high but that there should 

 he no grazing during the summer while the shrubs are setting seed. 

 In this way the plants always supply tender forage and reproduction 

 is assured. His range seemed to bear out quite well his assertion. 

 It was noticed, however, that he preached better than he practiced. 



Seed collecting on stands that are kept grazed short can be 

 done with power strippers, Y/here the bushes grow to be two or 

 three feet high, seed collecting becomes a matter of hand stripping, 



Dondia sop, - Seepweed, V. r e havo two or three very closely 

 related species of this shrub in the west and southwest. They are 

 among the very characteristic shrubs of the heavy alkali flats and 

 as they grow on practically level ground, have little value as soil 

 binders and they are valueless as forage. The plants frequently 

 grow on alkali where no other plants can survive. Even these often 

 grow to a foot or mere in height and turn seared and black. The 

 plants can usually be recognized by their dark green or purplish 

 color and the narrow thick leaves, 



Sarcobatus vermiculatus is the true Greasewood of the west. 

 It frequently forms dense stands of bushes five to eight feet tall, 

 on low, heavy alkali flats. These plants constitute considerable 

 forage for sheep at times although it can never be spoken of as 

 first-class pasturage. In regions that have been severely over- 

 grazed the bushes often accumulate the sand and dirt from the sur- 

 rounding land and form tall hummocks. These divert the wind into 

 channels and leave the bottoms in a severe type of devastation, 

 Greasewood can be readily recognized by the slender, round, succu- 

 lent leaves which, as the specific name indicates, resemble worms, 



A! IARAMTIAC EAE 



Amar ant hu s spp , The Fig Weeds and Cock's Combs are about 

 as good and about as bad in some localities as the Russian Thistle. 

 Some of us can remember cutting them for the pigs in the dim and 

 distant past, in the good old days of the swill-barrel. Occasional- 

 ly these weeds were used as greens. They are quick growing annuals 

 which arc pretty good forage but decided pests in cultivated fields. 

 If annuals are needed as nurse crops and for ground cover these may 

 serve the purpose. They are, however, water hogs and can be ex- 

 pected to deprive other plants of their needed moisture unless they 

 are mowed early, 



ETC TAG III AC EAE 



Abronia spp. The Sand Verbenas are conspicuous plants in 

 sandy regions throughout the southwest and many other parts of North 



-60 



