2 



drought-resisting grass and forage crops were of the utmost impor- 

 tance as well as improved methods of range management. In many 

 sections the native grasses have been driven out and their places 

 taken by weeds to such an extent that reseeding is about the only 

 way that the lands can be restored to anything like their original 

 productiveness. To do this, grasses and forage crops capable of en- 

 during severe drought and other hardships are necessary. It seemed 

 desirable to select some point or points where experiments could be 

 conducted, having for their object the testing of drought-resisting 

 grass and forage crops and of the range conditions. With this end 

 in view, a number of localities were visited. At Yakima and Walla 

 Walla, both in the State of Washington, it was found that some 

 work had already been undertaken ; that at the former place under 

 the auspices of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and that at 

 Walla Walla by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. 

 The officials of each of these companies expressed a readiness to coop- 

 erate with the Department in continuing in this work of testing 

 grasses and forage crops and range improvements, and went so far 

 as to offer to turn over for the use of the Department the lands occu- 

 pied by their respective experiment stations and any others that 

 might be deemed suitable or necessary for making such tests. For 

 the station at North Yakima this offer included tools, team, and 

 other appliances used at the station. These offers seeming to afford 

 a desirable opportunity to carry on these much needed investigations, 

 their acceptance was recommended. This recommendation meeting 

 with the approval of the Secretary, the Division took charge of the 

 experimental work at these places, and special efforts were made to 

 collect in quantity the seed of native grasses and forage crops that 

 seemed so desirable to be tested in connection with the work of range 

 improvement. 



The investigations on the Pacific slope were continued during the 

 season of 1899, both in the field and at North Yakima, Walla Walla, 

 Rowena, and other points. The Agrostologist and two other mem- 

 bers of the office force of the Division staff spent a considerable por- 

 tion of the summer in the field studying the native grasses of the 

 region and other questions connected with the forage problem. 



At various points along the immediate coast and on the Columbia 

 River, the question of fixing the' drifting sands is an important one, 

 and much time has been spent in studying the conditions which 

 exist there and in endeavoring to secure practical means of holding 

 the shifting sands in place. At some points along the river the sand 

 occurs in such abundance and drifts so badly that it is a decided 

 menace to orchards and farm crops in the immediate' vicinity, and 

 seriously impedes traffic by forming drifts over railroads and other 

 avenues of commerce. In the course of our investigations a number 



