Lachover, D., Division de Chimie Agricole, Institut Volcani de Recherche Agronomique, Rehovot, Israel
Kostrinski, J., Division de Chimie Agricole, Institut Volcani de Recherche Agronomique, Rehovot, Israel

Safflower is usually considered to be a potential oil crop throughout the world. In Israel it is a winter crop, whose grain is utilized for the extraction of oil for industrial purposes (manufacture of oil and margarine). In this preliminary report results are given of some trials which have shown that, from a nutritional point of view, the green plant has a feed value when compared to other forage crops, if comparison is made on a dry weight basis. It was also found that safflower plants attaining a high level of yield and dry matter serve as very good material for making a pleasant smelling silage rich in food nutrients. The few actual feeding tests carried out showed that the succulent safflower plant is very palatable to livestock and is readily eaten by sheep and cows, while the silage is greedily consumed by calves. The effect of rate of seeding on the plant composition during growth, time of sowing is also considered. © 1965 Kluwer Academic Publishers.