Colorado Hays and Fodders. 
21 
tive salt bushes, A triplex argentea , because they are of import¬ 
ance to the eastern section of the state, which is largely devoted to 
grazing. The cattlemen find it desirable to have some fodder to 
feed during severe storms, as by doing so they avoid during the 
late winter and spring the loss of cattle, which are already some¬ 
what reduced by the scanty supply of grass and the exposures of 
the season. Owing to the climatic conditions prevailing in this 
section it would be a boon if some of the native plants could be 
used for fodder when dried. As the salt bush mentioned, A triplex 
argentea , has been used for this purpose, I included it in our ex¬ 
periment. In regard to the sorghum fodder, two things are to be 
considered; first, it is necessary to grow it without irrigation and 
with but little rainfall; the average rainfall of Cheyenne Wells is 
15.90 inches; second, the plants will not grow rankly and the fodder 
would not be used until the latter part of winter or some time 
during the spring, by which time it is claimed that sorghum fod¬ 
der will have deteriorated very materially. But even under these 
conditions one would judge sorghum fodder to be preferable to hay 
made from the Russian thistle or some of the salt bushes. 
The Sub-station at Cheyenne Wells experimented with the 
growing sorghum for this purpose. The cultural problems lie en¬ 
tirely beyond my province. The sample of sorghum fodder used 
was grown by this Sub-station, cut when only a few of the plants 
were advanced enough to mature seed, shocked and preserved 
in shock until the following spring. The sample was leafy and 
of an excellent color, and whatever the changes this fodder 
may have suffered due to its having stood in shock, exposed to 
the weather of an eastern Colorado winter, it is still representative 
of the very best sorghum fodder that the people of this section 
can hope to obtain. 
The second series of experiments include the following: Al¬ 
falfa hay, native hay, timothy hay, corn fodder, sorghum fodder 
and salt bush hay. 
The sheep used in these experiments were wethers about one 
year old, so-called Mexican lambs, and represented the stock fed 
by feeders in this valley. The sheep were rather under-sized but 
healthy and hardy. They were gentle and their stalls were light 
and airy, so arranged that we could close them nights and during 
severe weather. The water given them to drink was heated to 
from 14 deg. to 20 deg. C., and in cold weather to from 35 deg. to 
40 deg., usually to about 30 deg. During this series of experi¬ 
ments the sheep received a small allowance of salt, except with 
the salt bush hay. The weights of the sheep were taken on the 
morning of the day the experiments began, before feeding, and on 
the morning of the day they were turned out of the stalls twelve 
hours after the last feed. 
