14 



using it to advantage to strengthen their dams and the banks of their 



water tanks. 



"Wild Rye (EJymus canadensis) grows in nearly every neighborhood. 

 It is to be fonnd occasionally on the uplands, but is more common in 

 the valleys. Stockmen say that, when it is young and green, stock of 

 all kinds is fond of it. They think it will make good hay. It is one of 

 the most ijromising of the native hay grasses. 



Everlasting Grass [Erio- 

 cliloa punctata) (fig. 3). — This 

 grass was found in Shackel- 

 ford County in a stubble field, 

 where stock were eating it 

 greedily. This was in Sep- 

 tember, but a month later it 

 was found in several other 

 localities on the benches and 

 in the valleys. A well- 

 informed stockman of Tay- 

 lor County says that it is a 

 good pasture grass when it 

 first greens out in the spring, 

 affords good pasturage all 

 through the summer months, 

 and in autumn, when pro- 

 tected from stock, will furnish 

 in abundance a good quality 

 of hay. In the times when 

 Fort Griffin, in Shackelford 

 County, was occupied as a 

 United States Government 

 post, this grass was a main 

 reliance of the troops for hay. 

 At that time it grew all over 

 that vicinity from 2 to 4 feet 

 high, and, as large sections 

 were covered with it to the 

 no. 3.-Everiaati«g Grass. practical exclusiou of other 



grasses, it was notditlicult to secure hay in large quantities. Now, how- 

 ever, it is rarely to be found in quantities sutticient or under conditions 

 suitable for hay purposes— another instance of the reckless manner in 

 which the range in all central Texas has been abused. In the valley of 

 the Clear Fork, a few miles below Fort Griflin, this grass was seen 

 growing luxuriantly in a field where no stock was allowed, showing by 

 its strong growth what it will do under favorable conditions. Farmers 

 and stockmen should cultivate it with special reference to its high valne 

 as a hay grass. 



