10 BULLETIN 617, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
HARVESTING FOR SOILING. 
The Australian saltbush makes a fair soiling crop, and for this 
purpose it can be cut at any time after the plants have made suffi- 
cient growth to warrant handling. The plants remain green and 
hold their leaves late in the season, and consequently it can be used 
in the fall as well as early. The saltbush handled in this way is 
eaten quite readily by stock, but for the best results it should be fed 
with other forage and, if possible, supplemented with grain feed. 
On account of the plants being very prostrate they can not be 
cut with an ordinary mowing machine unless some device is attached 
for lifting the stems. However, it is probable that one would want 
to feed saltbush in this way only in very limited quantities or for 
very short periods, and under such conditions it could be cut with 
an ordinary scythe. 
HARVESTING FOR SEED. 
The seed of the Australian saltbush drops from the plant very 
readily as soon as it is ripe, and for this reason it can not be cut 
and handled for seed like most other crops. The best method of 
procedure in harvesting the seed is to place a piece of canvas about 
6 by 3 feet in dimensions under the plants and then knock the seed 
off with a stick or flail. This method is somewhat slow, but there 
seems to be no easier way of harvesting this seed. After the seed 
has been knocked from the plants it should be spread on a large 
canvas to dry. On account of the moisture contained in the pulpy 
bracts inclosing the seed it can net be put immediately in sacks 
or in large piles without heating. After it has been dried it can 
be sacked and stored like any other seed. The seed of this saltbush 
ripens in the latter part of August and through September. It does 
not ripen all at once, so that one must determine when a maximum 
of seed is ready to harvest. Under favorable conditions about 300 
pounds of seed can be secured from an acre. 
VALUE FOR HAY. 
The Australian saltbush possesses but little value for hay. The 
stems are too woody for this purpose, and on account of the plants 
being very prostrate the handling at best would be quite expensive. 
DISEASES. 
A diseased condition of plants of Atriplex semibaccata was noted 
as occurring quite commonly in the Los Angeles and San Diego 
region. ‘These diseased plants presented a blackened or sooty 
appearance, with the tops or upper stems and leaves most severely 
affected. Specimens collected at Chula Vista, Calif., on September 
4, 1918, were presented to Miss Vera K. Charles, who has identified 
