11 



a sufficient crop of sorghum, Kaffir com, or some of the coarser culti- 

 vated hay grasses should be planted to supply feed in times of scarcity. 

 Hay meadow s formed of native grasses are greatly needed. These 

 native grasses have in the past shown all the best qualities of hay 

 grasses elsewhere, and they do not require any experimental work to 

 determine their adaptability to soil and climate or their general value. 

 More than a third of all the grasses in the United States grow within 

 the confines of the state of Texas, and the establishment of natural 

 hay meadows of the wild grasses and forage plants is bound to prove 

 successful and profitable. The first question to be determined is, which 

 are the best for hay and which for grazing. Stockmen can do this work 

 on their own ranches and settle the question for themselves. They 

 can prepare and seed down lands with the best grasses and save hay 

 every year for winter use, thereby adding largely to the capacity of 

 their pastures for carrying stock. As soon as dependence is placed 

 on hay or fodder the pastures are bound to improve, because stock fed 

 a part of every year will need less pasture grass, and the pastures 

 being allowed this periodic rest will more rapidly attain their best 

 development. 



NATIVE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS RECOMMENDED FOR 



PROPAGATION. 



In a consideration of the different native grasses and forage plants it 

 has not been i)Ossible to inspect the ranges in all the couuties, but those 

 here discussed may be taken to fairly represent the entire section. Of 

 the many varieties found, the following, from i)ersonal observation and 

 from the accounts given by ranchmen and farmers, apj)ear to be the 

 most valuable: 



GRASSES. 



Western Wheat-grass [Agropyron spicatum) is a blue-stem which 

 is rather wiry. It is from 20 to 30 inches high, and grows luxuriantly 

 all over central Texas. While it will not produce as much hay to the 

 acre as some other species, stockmen value it highly for its nutritive 

 qualities. It withstands the droughts to which the section is period- 

 ically subject, and is to be found not only on the uplands, but also in 

 the low moist meadows. It is also known in the Northwest as Colorado 

 Blue stem. 



Feather Sedge or Feather Blue-stem {Andropogon saccharoides 

 torreyanus) (fig. 1) grows in all of the counties of central Texas. It has 

 a feathery looking "seed head" and a blue stem, grows from 2 to 3.J 

 feet tall, and ripens an abundance of seed in September. When cured 

 it is soft to the touch and is much relished by cattle. This is a com- 

 mon grass on the dry prairies and mesas from Kansas to Texas west- 

 ward to Arizona and southward into Mexico. 



