143 
the exception of Beckmannia, Phalaris, and Distichlis, and in addition 
thereto— 
Calamagrostis neglecta. Carex stipata. 
Muhlenbergia mexicana. Carex filiformis. 
Panicum scopariwn. Carex nebraskensis. 
Panicum dichotomum. Carex aurea. 
Sporobolus asperifolius. Carex echinata radiata. 
Agrostis hiemalis. Equisetum levigatum. 
The last one is claimed to be a valuable hay grass. 
The bottom land of Dismal River being too rough to mow is instead 
used for summer ranches. The forage consists of about the same plants 
as that of the Middle Loup Valley, with two additions, Alopecurus gen- 
iculatus aristulatus and Agrostis hiemalis. 
The forage plants of the dry valleys, hillsides, and pockets of the 
sand hills consist mostly of the following species, of which some are of 
little value, however: , 
Boutelouwa oligostachya. Panicum virgatum, 
Bouteloua rirsuta. Agropyron repens glaucum. 
Bulbilis dactyloides. Stipa spartea. 
Eatonia obtusata, Stipa comata. 
Keleria cristata. Elymus canadensis. 
Andropogon scoparius. Andropogon hallii. 
Bouteloua curtipendula. Paspalum setaceum. 
Sieglingia purpurea, Sporobolus eryptandrus. 
The first five in the left-hand column are regarded as the best pasture 
grasses, While the first six in the right-hand column are often cut for 
hay when they grow in quantity. 
On the prairies of the Middle Loup Valley a valuable addition to 
the pasture is made by the following, which grow in some places in 
quantity : 
Poa arida, Poa sp. 
Poa arida var. Poa pratensis var. 
STOCK RAISING. 
From the foregoing it can be seen that stock raising is and probably 
always will be the principal industry of the region. Before the Bur- 
lington and Missouri River Railroad was built the sand hills were over- 
run by the herds of the cattle ranches, but after the railroad came in 
the good land began to be settled, the herd laws were enforced, and the 
“cattle kings” were compelled to move their herds farther west. It 
was nearly impossible to keep the cattle from the fields of the settlers, 
and they were, moreover, in many places cut off from water. In Grant 
County, where there is plenty of natural grass land, the settlers have 
turned stockmen, but ona small scale. The wet valleys are used as hay 
land, and the drier part of the valleys and the sand hills as summer 
pasture. Winter pasturing can scarcely be resorted to at all, as those 
plants which in western Nebraska constitute winter pasturage are here 
comparatively rare, viz: 
Bouteloua oligostachya. Bulbilis dactyloides. 
Bouteloua hirta. Carex filifolia. 
265—No. 3 2 
