4 



Some idea of the importance of the subject of this Eeport upon the 

 Grasses and Forage Tlauts and Forage Conditions of the Eastern 

 Kocky Mountain Kegion is indicated by the following statements: 



It is estimated from Report Ko. 7, Division of Statistics, that in the 

 State of Wyoming about 15,000,000 acres are taken up by mountains and 

 forest areas, about 10,000,000 acres are irrigable and hence suitable for 

 general agriculture, while nearly 40,000,000 acres, or almost two-thirds 

 of the entire State, may be regarded as pasture lauds only. In Mon- 

 tana the proportion of pasture lands is fully as great as in Wyoming, 

 while in Colorado it will probably fall but little below. 



At the beginning of the year 18U7 there were in these three States 

 about 350,000 head of horses and mules, valued at about 89,000,000, 

 over 3,000,000 head of cattle, valued at nearly $56,000,000, and over 

 6,200,000 head of sheep, valued at over $10,500,000, or a total valuation 

 for the stock supported chiefly by these native pasture and meadow 

 lands of about $75,500,000. 



The first report on the investigations of the forage plants of the 

 Northwest, from this division, was Bulletin No. 5, on the Grasses and 

 Forage Plants of the Eocky Mountain Region, by P. A. Rydberg and 

 C. L. Shear. This was followed by Bulletin No. 6, on the Grasses 

 and Forage Plants of the Dakotas, by T. A. Williams, aided by Prof. 

 M. A. Brannon, of North Dakota, aud E. N. Wilcox and 1 )avid Griftiths, 

 of South Dakota. Embracing much the same field is Prof L. H. Pam- 

 mel's Notes on the Grasses and Forage Plants of Iowa, Nebraska, and 

 Colorado, published as Bulletin No. 9 of this Division ; and another, on 

 The Red Desert of Wyoming and its Forage Resources, by Prof. Aven 

 Nelson, is now in press. In the present bulletin the topographical 

 features of the region are considered, including a discussion of the 

 soil, water supply, etc. This is followed by detailed accounts of the 

 cultivated grasses and forage plants and the more important forage 

 plants, both grasses aud species of other families, native to the region, 

 concluding with suggestions on methods of improvement of the forage 

 conditions of the ranges. 



Respectfully, F. Lamson-Scribner, 



Ayroatoloyist. 



Hon. James Wilson, 



^Secretary of Agriculture. 



