31 



ou the marshes for forty-five years. When the stock are nearly 

 matured they must be takeu to the i)rairies farther iuhiud or shipped 

 to the fattening jyens. 



The only treatment ever given the marsh pastures is to burn them 

 over at intervals of three or four years. This clears out the dead leaves 

 and stems that fill the centers of the tussocks and acts as a fertilizer 

 by adding a top dressing of ashes. Marsh soils are as a rule deficient in 

 potash, and hence the marsh grasses need all that which is contained 

 in the ashes. Summer burning should never be practiced on the salt 

 marshes, because to destroy the 

 entire i)lant to the roots at the 

 time it is in its prime is simply 

 to needhissly sap its vitality; 

 whereas if the grass is burned 

 in late winter or early spring- 

 while it is resting, before the 

 new growth starts, the burning 

 over will act as a stimulant 

 to quicken the growth and in- 

 crease the amount of vegetation . 



The extent of salt, marshes 

 along the coast between the Sa- 

 bine Itiver and their southern 

 terminus amounts to perhaps 

 1,000 square miles, which at the 

 estimated grazing capacity as 

 given above can support yearly 

 between 80,000 and 120,000head 

 of cattle. 



The best ranches in this sec- 

 tion of the coastal plain are those 

 whicli extend far enough back 

 from the tide water to include 

 some of the sedge grass jjrai- 

 ries and wooded bottoms. The 

 cattle may then be transferred 

 from one character of pasture 



to another with the changing seasons, thus providing both variety of 

 diet for the growing cattle and also securing that alternate grazing and 

 resting which is most desirable in the formation of the best pastures. 



The open prairies, where they still occur, are very fine grazing lands. 

 They are covered with a great variety of species, it often being possi- 

 ble to gather fifty or more different kinds on a single section in one day. 

 The most conspicuous of these are the sedge grasses: Feather sedge 

 [Androponoit saceharoide.s), Torrey's sedge (var. iorret/anus) (fig. 2), ami 

 big blue stem {A. j/rocmvialin). The first of these is very abundant 



Fiii. 



-Torrey's sedge grass (Andropogon aaccha- 

 roides turreyanus). 



