20 



but always in moist soils. Specimens were collected on the shores of 

 Lytle Lake, in Taylor County, near the Seven Wells, in Mitchell County, 

 on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, in both Jones and Shackleford coun- 

 ties, and on the Sweetwater, in Nolan County. It ripens but few seeds. 

 The leaf blades are narrow but abundant. It is a bunch ^rass, a single 

 clump sometimes being 12 inches in diauieter. Stockmen report that 

 all classes of cattle eat this grass with evident relish, especially before 

 flowering and in the winter when it is cured. 



There are a great many other grasses that have value either for hay 

 or pasture purposes, or both, but those above enumerated are believed 

 to be the most meritorious of those native of central Texas. 



FORAGE PLANTS NOT GRASSES. 



Stoiley Vetch ( Vicia leavenworthii) is a forage plant of decided 

 vahie. It appears very early in the spring, and bears pods filled with 

 small peas. It is eaten by stock in the spring and early summer. As 

 late as September fair specimens of it were collected, but not in condi- 

 tion to be eaten by stock. The peas had shattered out and much of 

 the foliage had fallen from the stems. It is to be found in most of the 

 pastures in this section, and is known locally by a variety of names. 

 One farmer claimed to recognize it as the Butterfly i)ea that grew in 

 his native State of Georgia, but the vetch has the twining habit of a 

 vine while the pea grows erect. A stockman who has held stock in 

 Arizona and New Mexico says that a similar vetch grows there and is 

 known as the Buffalo pea, while a farmer from Louisiana says it resem- 

 bles the Partridge pea. Several parties near Putnam, in Callahan 

 County, experimented with this pea last year with satisfactory results. 

 They report that it blooms from March to the middle of May and that 

 the peas ripen while it is still blooming, after the habit of the English 

 garden pea. A county official of Callahan County says that several 

 years ago in February he saw this pea in full bloom about Aledo, in 

 Parker County, where it grows wild in great abundance. 



Tallow Weed {Actinella UnearifoUa). — Every sheep raiser in all the 

 stock counties of Texas knows the habits and value of this remarkable 

 forage i)lant. It is not a very common growth, but occurs in almost 

 ev^cry one of the counties in this section of Texas. It has somewhat 

 the form of young lettuce when it first appears. Later it puts out a 

 yellow blossom that fills the air with its rich perfume. Still later it 

 forms a seed head resembling somewhat that of a yellow clover. It 

 flowers in the early spring and is ready for all kinds of stock in advance 

 of any other weed or grass. Some of the accounts given by enthusiastic 

 stockmen as to its merits are almost too wonderful to be fully credited. 

 For instance, one who has a ranch on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, in 

 -lones County, says that a few years ago, when a hard, wet winter had 

 followed on the heels of a very dry summer, the little grass that was 

 available rotted before Christmas, and, having laid up no hay, grain, or 



