15 



The moimtains are marked by extremes of temperature. Early in 

 July, at an altitude of 8,500 feet, it i.s not uncommon to Lave the ther- 

 mometer fall to 40° F. during the night. On the Little Beaver, one of 

 the small mountain streams that tinds its way into the south branch 

 of the Cache la Poudre, at an altitude of 9,500 feet, the thermometer 

 registered 38° F. in the morning, and yet at noon, in an open meadow, 

 it was llOo F., most uncomfortably hot. Under such conditions Buf- 

 falo Bunch-grass grows to magnificent proportions. Western Brome- 

 grass and Swamp Chess formed large patches. The little Mountain 

 Timothy grows in large masses in the moister woods below. Few of 

 our cultivated grasses can grow under such changeable conditions 

 without losing vitality. At an altitude of 8,500 feet, lower down on 

 Beaver Creek, barley made a poor growth. It was scarcely 6 inches 

 tall, while Buffalo Bunch-grass was not only in flower at 9,500 feet, 

 but seed was forming. How much better to have started a meadow of 

 this bunch-grass than to sow barley every spring. 



Three indigenous clovers {TrifoliKm nanum, T. inirryii, and T. dasy- 

 phyllum) occur in northern Colorado. The first is a dwarf species of 

 Pikes Peak at and above timber line. The two larger species cover the 

 ground in perfect mats, and are valnable forage plants. Our Jiorses fed 

 on these clovers in preference to the grasses and sedges growing in 

 the vicinity. 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SOMK COLORADO FOKAGE PLANTS. 



The chemical composition of a few Colorado grasses from chemical 

 analyses made at the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station is as 

 follows : 



Analyses of some Colorado grasses. 



Grasses. 



Grama gTa.s!i {lioKtelotta oUgostachya) 



Buffalo grass ( ISidbiUs (lactijloides) 



Western Wheat grass {A(jro'pnron spicatum) 

 Slender Wheat-grass (Agroptjron teiiiTwm) .. 



Prairie June grass (Koeleria criitata) 



Mountain Timothy fP/fietfiH ai^mM);i) . ... 



Slough-grass (Beckniannia eruccvformis) 



Lupine (Lujiinns plattensis) 



Alfalfa (Medicagii saliva) 



Bokhara Clover (Melilotus alba) 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



68. 33 

 65.29 

 63.37 

 65. 33 

 58. 68 

 63. 52 

 59.56 

 57.24 

 58.88 

 57.07 



The above analyses show that these native grasses vary considerably 

 in comi)osition, but that they compare very favorably with cultivated 

 ones. 



The forage problems awaiting solution are numerous, and the farm- 

 ers and stock men are just beginning to realize the importance of work 

 along these lines. It has frequently been urged by the Chief of the 

 Division of Agrostology that more exact and definite data on many of 

 our wild grasses and more experimental work in the imi>rovement 

 pf the native grasses are needed. If by selection from the native 



