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rainfall during the spring and early summer months, a dry autumn and 

 an open winter, with little snowfall or with high winds to blow the snow 

 into the ravines and gullies. This gives a heavy growth of grass, 

 which cures on the ground, where it can be grazed by the stock during 

 the late fall and winter. 



A considerable portion of this region has an altitude too great for 

 the successful growing of alfalfa and other commonly cultivated forage 

 crops, although it includes a great deal of rich land well supplied with 

 natural moisture or capable of being irrigated readily. Thus in Mon- 

 tana the altitudinal limit for the successful growing of alfalfa ranges 

 from about 4,500 to 5,000 feet, and more than one-half of the total area 

 of the State is above this limit; in Wyoming its altitudinal limit seems 

 to be not far from 5,000 feet, and over three fourths of the State is above 

 this altitude ; in Colorado it can be successfully grown up to about 

 G,500 feet in the northern and 7,500 feet in the southern part of the 

 State, and nearly one-half of the State is above this limit. Timothy 

 can usually be successfully grown at an altitude of from 500 to 1.000 

 feet above that of the limit for alfalfa, and hence replaces it to a greater 

 or less extent, but there is a very decided demand by tbe farmers and 

 stockmen for a forage crop adapted to these higher altitudes. Mr. 

 T. P. McDonald, of Carbon County, Mont., expresses the sentiment of 

 many when he writes, " We need a good forage plant that will grow 

 and mature above the 5,000-foot level." 



In addition to the above-mentioned needs, all of which are of quite 

 general importance, there are many of more or less local significance 

 demanding the attention of the investigator and the farmer. Although 

 alfalfa and other coarse crops can be raised successfully in most local- 

 ities and are good for hay, they are not satisfactory for general jiastur- 

 age, and there is a demand for a good pasture grass to be grown under 

 irrigation. In other localities the land is too strongly impregnated with 

 alkali, either from natural causes or through injudicious irrigation, for 

 the successful cultivation of the ordinary forage crops, and plants are 

 desired that will flourish on such soil. In still other localities, particu- 

 larly near the larger cities and towns, crops suitable for soiling are 

 needed. 



In some instances the present lack of forage is due quite as much to 

 the slowness of the farmers and stockmen to adapt themselves to the 

 existing conditions as it is to the want of suitable crops for cultivation. 

 It is hard to get out of the old slip-shod ways, even though it is known 

 that a little well-directed effort will make a given amount of land yield 

 several times as much forage as it did formerly. Careful attention to 

 the development of native meadows and pastures and a more general 

 cultivation of miscellaneous forage crops that can be grown with at 

 least a fair degree of success in nearly all localities will do much toward 

 solving the forage problem. 



The effect of such effort is well illustrated by the excellent native 



