4 PREFACE. 



observation in about 50 counties, and getting a great many notes from 

 stockmen in regard to the grasses and topography of the country and 

 the natural conditions of sections which it was impossible to exi)lore. 

 The work was carried uj) the Pecos Valley as far as Roswell and to 

 Demiug and Silver City in western New Mexico. 



Mr. H. L. Bentley, of Abilene, was given a commission to collect speci- 

 mens, make notes and write a report on the past and present conditions 

 of the grazing industry in central Texas. His report, applicable to 

 the territory, 200 miles long and 150 miles wide, between the ninety- 

 eighth meridian and the western edge of the Staked Plains, has been 

 published by this Division, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 72 and Divisional 

 Bulletin No. 10. Mr. Orrick Metcalfe was employed to collect seeds of 

 the best of the range grasses in the vicinity of Silver City and along 

 the valley of the Gila. 



As a result of this work it was decided to obtain control of a body 

 of overgrazed land in the Panhandle and another in central Texas 

 in order to carry on experiments in methods of practical range 

 improvement. After correspondence with a number of the leading 

 stockmen Prof. C. C. Georgeson was sent in March, 1898, to inspect the 

 sections ofi'ered for the use of this Division. He chose 640 acres near 

 Channing, on the north plain, north of the Canadian River, and another 

 CiO acres near Abilene, just south of the western arm of the western 

 cross timber belt. Professor (leorgeson organized and commenced 

 experiments at Channing, but was unable to establish the work at 

 Abilene because of a transfer to another line of work in the Depart- 

 ment, and Mr. Smith was ordered to Abilene to superintend the matter 

 during the latter part of March and first of April. In order to carry 

 on the work as outlined Mr. H. L. Bentley, of Abilene, Tex., was given 

 a commission as special agent in charge of the experiments at that 

 I)oint. 



This work in range imjirovement is the first that has been tried 

 either by the Government or by any State exi)eriinent station. The 

 only experiment at all comparable was that begun some years ago at 

 Garden City, Kans. 



Some preliminary work had been done in the Southwest by this 

 Division in 1890. In February of that year Mr. C. K. Orciitt, of San 

 Diego, Cal., was given a commission for three months. He was 

 instructed to proceed through Arizona and New Mexico as far east as 

 El Paso, and to collect such specimens and make such general observa- 

 tions concerning the grasses and forage plants of the region as wonld 

 be of interest to the Division. In September, 1890, the assistant chief 

 of the Division was instructed to proceed to several points in Texas 

 and New Mexico for the i)iirpose of accpiiring information concerning 

 the grasses and forage plants of that region. In consequence of this 

 trip we have been able to secure, through Mr. James K. Metcalfe, of 

 Silver City, N. ]Mex., quantities of seeds of native grasses and forage 

 plants, which have been used in the experimental work of the Division. 



