Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 250, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1917 — Turning Weeds Into Sheep [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Turning Weeds Into Sheep

The world needs more wool and to obtain the necessary supply of this commodity the country must raise more wool producers—there should be a flock of sheep on every rv

A-jSW remarkable success recently achieved by Mr. Y. C. Mansfield of , Endicott, Washington, in fattenM ing several hundred head of sheep —on the Australian salt-bush has Jjg created an interest in this once Mar /“ despised weed, which is rapidly V 7 / spreading throughout the northw/ west states. One result, of Mr. \ / Mansfield’s experiment is that other ’ farmers on whose acres the weed

grows have come to look upon what was formerly considered absolutely worthless land as a real bonanza, and they are now preparing to turn their attention from the raising of hogs and wheat to sheep, with the assurance that, under ordinary conditions, they can hardly fall short of Mr. Mansfield’s success. They see opened before them what is practically a virgin field of sheep raising, offering wonderful possibilities. As soon as the value of the salt-bush as a forage crop become generally known it undoubtedly will be cultivated In other sections of the West. As a matter of fact, .it is now found, along all the highways from Arizona to Washington, but very few people know its true name add fewer know that it is a valuable plant. In eastern Oregon it is generally known as the Pendleton flood weed, and has been looked upon as such a pest that there is a law in the state'against allowing it to go to seed. According to Mr. Mansfield, however, it is really of more value to eastern Oregon than the alfalfa plant, for not only is it a far better feed for sheep, but it will grow on the most arid land, and practically requires no attention after once getting a stand, as it grows in hard, firm soil better than on loose, well-cultivated land. / Mr. Mansfield’s experience, as related by him to the writer, who was fortunate to visit the farm at a time when a thousand head of sheep had Just been turned Into a new pasture of the saltbush, When the accompanying photographs were taken, reads almost like a fairy story. For several years Mr. Mansfield farmed 3,000 acres of land, all of which was wheat land with the exception of 150 acres, which were subirrigated alfalfa land. Finally the land became so foul with Russian thistles and Jim Hill mustard, that this, together with the high cost of labor and the; low price of wheat, made it Impossible for

him to longer continue in the growing of wheat alone without also keeping live stock to help pay the living expenses. Accordingly, two years ago, he decided to invest in a flock of sheep, and it was while driving these home that he made the discovery which he has since turned to such good account. Along the road near the Mansfield farm the salt-bush grew in abundance; and to Mr. Mansfield’s infinite surprise the sheep began feeding upon it greedily. He figured upon/the spot that he had destroyed SSOO worth of good sheep feed that year, besides wasting a great deal of labor, in trying to get rid of the weeds. Last summer he pastured his entire flock of 1,000 sheep on the salt-bush with the most astonishing results. The sheep were not only exceedingly fat, but their wool was of a superior quality. Several neighboring farmers with small flocks of sheep followed Mr. Mansfield’s experiment and their sheep, also, were in much better shape than those that were taken to the mountains during the summer. During a period of two weeks last summer Mr. Mansfield’s flock of 1,000 sheep was kept on less than five acres of ground that was growing Atfstralian salt-bush, and they did not clean the feed all up at that. These five acres of land were two feed yards where he had fed stock for years and consequently they grew an immense amount of the weed, but ordinarily dry land which practically will not grow anything else, will produce this

weed. Later in the summer Mr. Mansfield made some hay of the weed, but on account- of the scarcity of labor was not able to haul it in out of the shock. , He had to turn his sheep through this hay to the stubble field, where there was plenty of other pasture, and they would stop and eat this hay. They cleaned it Mil up and saved the trouble of hauling it in. Mr. Mansfield is not only very enthusiastic about the saltbush as a food for sheep, but believes it is good feed for other stock also- Hogs, cattle and horses, he states, eat it soon, and he believes that they would learn to like It as well as the sheep do if they were confined a short time

on it Sheep, he adds, must be confined on it a day or two before they relish it. Then they go to it with avidity. They do not, however, eat enough of it to make them sick and die, as they do on alfalfa and a great many other plants, but they get exceedingly fat on it. The Australian saltbush is described as a muchbranched perennial, which forms a thick mat over the ground a foot or 18 inches in depth, the branches extending from five to eight feet; one plant often covering an area of 15 to 20 square feet. The leaves are about an inch long, broadest at the apex, coarsely toothed along the margin, fleshy and somewhat mealy on the outside. The fruits are tinged with red, flattened and pulpy, but become dry as soon as they fall from the plant. The seeds germinate better if sown on the surface, which should be planked or firmed by driving a flock of sheep across it. When covered to any depth the seeds decay before germination. The plant will grow on black alfalfa land that is really of no value for anything else on earth. Mr. Mansfield states that there are millions of acres of such land in the United States, which, if sown to this seed, undoubtedly would keep sheep enough to produce more wool and mutton than is now raised in the entire United States. Mr. Mansfield adds that if cut for hay the saltbush should be cut while the branches are soft «tTnd tender, and the second crop will make considerable pasture and re-seed the ground.

AUSTRALIAN SALT-BUSH PASTURE

SHOWING HEAVY FOLIAGE OF THE SALT-BUSH