256 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 APRIL, 90h 
Many saltbushes can be propagated from cuttings, but the cheapest ant 
best method is from seed. These can be sown in boxes and transplanted 0 : i 
desired fields, where they easily root and soon, from self-sown seedlings” 
subsequent seasons, cover the entire ground. More vigorous plants and a be 
root-system are obtained by sowing where the stand is desired. 
It is often desirable, however, to transplant seedlings. ‘They may be 
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in the driest seasons, when grain crops cannot find sufficient moisture and Dry | 
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sub-statign, taken by Professor Loughridge. This should be compared wi | 
But the most important discovery from this experiment at Paso Robi 1 
(says Mr. C. H. Shinn) was that the saltbush grew well on a soil thatwas nob ony | 
dry and uncultivated, but was also underlaid by hardpan. Many borings oy | 
the tract have determined the depth of surface soil, and in many places ieee | 
the thickness of the underlying hardpan. Plants have only from 1 to 2 | 
open soil in which to grow before they find a hardpan of from 20 inche® | | 
6 feet in thickness through which the roots of but few species of plants ad 
penetrate. The native oaks, English oaks, mulberries, and locusts do ™ e 
slowly extend through it, but fruit trees merely spread out their roots 7. 
surface for some years, then cease to grow and finally die. When wet bY, Kes 
this hardpan becomes easy of penetration, a fact of which » saltbush #° | 
advantage, starting growth as it does with the first autumn showers. 
Regarded as a fodder plant, the value of the saltbush will be apprecitl | 
when it is remembered that in the selection of foods the chief nutrient ©. an 
considered is the protein or nitrogenous ingredient. The saltbushes range Me 
in this most important ingredient. The green fodder shows an average of 8 t0 
per cent. of crude protein, and 10°53 per cent. of free nitrogen. Ma vs 
hay, the average is 12°89 per cent. crude protein, and 39°57 per cen’ ib 
nitrogen, according to the analysis made by Professor W. A. Dixon, New Soh 
Wales. The average percentages of fat and starchy matter in the saltbush jy, 
less than those found in cereal hays. But in the case of the latter nutrie24 ef 
average is almost identical with the figures named for alfalfa and burr ©? ity 
In making up a ration, Mr. M. EB. Jaffa, of the California Une), 
Agricultural Experiment Station, assigns to the saltbush hay about the “19 
digestive co-efficients as those for oaten hay. The digestibility wo ple | 
increased greatly if the material were cut into small pieces. It is not a ve he 
to feed the saltbushes alone, particularly in the air-dried state, owing ' 0 
high percentage of saline ingredients and the general uninyiting appe "a8 
and condition of the saltbush hay. Sheep and cattle have, however, 1 “yf 
of emergency existed altogether on this material through an entire seasol soy 
would-be most unwise to substitute 4. semibaccata for a cereal hay. ce 
plan would be to feed a very small amount of saltbush with considerable 
