24 



safely, as being quite as fattening as the curly mesquite. After the 

 seeds are shed there is no better grass on the range. It has the habit 

 of the curly mesquite of curing on the roots. No matter how dry it 

 may look to be, after a warm rain it will green out to the end of its 

 blades and stems. Some say that horses and cattle will not eat it after 

 it has shed its seed and has dried out. This, however, is a mistake. 

 To satisfy himself on this point the writer has been on the range with 

 a view especially to ascertain the fact, and has seen cattle, horses, 

 and mules all eating it greedily under such conditions. One of the best 

 informed stockmen of central Texas, when asked his opinion on the value 



of this grass, said: '^It is about 

 the earliest of all our pasture 

 grasses; it is as nutritious as 

 the best: stock eat it before the 

 seeds become harsh and after 

 they are separated from the 

 stems; and it contributes more 

 than any other grass to the an- 

 nual renewal of the range. It is 

 a main reliance with the cow 

 men throughout this section. I 

 regard it as one of the most 

 valuable grasses for general pur- 

 poses that we have." 



Buffalo G-rass {BuJbiUs <]ac- 

 tyJoides) (fig. 8). — It is more than 

 probable that stockmen fre- 

 quently mistake this grass for 

 the different varieties of grama. 

 It is a very common grass 

 throughoutcentral Texas, which 

 is not the case with the gramas. 

 Certainly in this sectionit is 

 more valuable than the others, 

 since it furnishes very much 

 more stock feed than any, or indeed all, of the gramas put together. 

 There are many who perhaps esteem the buffalo grass more liighly than it 

 deserves; but there are more who do not give to it the credit to which 

 it is really entitled. A range well seeded down to it, with curly mes- 

 quite and needle grass, is an ideal stocic range so far as the grasses are 

 concerned; and it is a very common thing in all this section to find 

 just this combination. The greater the variety of pasture grasses tlie 

 better the range for practical purposes, but stockmen in tliis section 

 would not willingly exchange these three for any other mixture. 



Fig. 8.— Buffalo Grass. 



