8 



excellent grass for bindiug railroad and other embankments subject to wash, and 

 can be recommeudetl for this purpose. The roots are well known in medicine 

 under the name of iiafZi\r </ra»(iHi'8. The simple infusion is used as a diuretic. 

 Propagated by "root cuttings" or by seed. 



No. 5. Agropyronspicatum (Pursh) Scribn. & Smith. 

 Western Wlieat-grass. 



A grass closely resembling the Couch-grass of the 

 Eastern States, and by some regarded as ouly a 

 variety of it. It has the same strong and exten- 

 sively creeping rootstocks, and the foliage and 

 spikes are very similar, but the whole plant usually 

 has a bluish color, whence the common name " Blue- 

 stem," most frequently applied to it in the West. 

 It grows naturally on the dry bench lands and 

 river bottoms; and, although the yield per acre is 

 not large, the quality of the hay is unsurpassed by 

 any other species of the region where it grows. In 

 Montana and the neighboring States it furnishes a 

 considerable amount of native hay, and is there 

 regarded as one of the most important of the native 

 forage plants. After three or four successive an- 

 nual cuttings, the yield diminishes very much, but 

 the grass is " brought iip " 

 by letting it stand a year 

 or two, or by dragging 

 over the sod a sharp- 

 toothed harrow, thus 

 breaking the roots into 

 small pieces, every frag- 

 ment of which makes a 

 new plant. This grass is 

 quite distinct from the 

 "Blue-stem" grasses of 

 Nebraska, which are 

 specieaof An(lro2)ogon (A. proviricialis). There are a num- 

 ber of other species of Agropyron or wheat-grasses in 

 the Rocky M ountains, some of which are evidently excel- 

 lent hay grasses and well deserve the attention of the 

 agriculturist. 



Fig. 1— Couch-grass (Agropyron 

 re'pens) . 



No. 6. Agropyron tenerum Vasey. Slender Wheat-grass. 



A perennial bunch grass growing in the northern prairie 

 region from Nebraska to Montana and Manitoba. Seed 

 of this grass is now on the market, its sterling quali- 

 ties for hay having long been recognized liy North- 

 western farmers. It pioduces an abundance of soil, 

 leafy stems and root leaves, and ripens a large amount 

 of seed that is easily gathered — two of the chief requi- 

 sites of a good hay grass. This grass is well adapted 

 for cultivation, and the area devoted to it is deservedly 

 increasing each year. 





fe«* 



Fin. 



2. -Redtop 

 alba). 



(AfjrosHs 



No. 7. Agrostis alba Linn. Redtoj) or Herd's-grass. 



Under the botanical name of Agrostis aUm are included a number of varieties, some 

 of which have received distinct Latin names; as, for example, Agrostis vulgaris 



