42 FORAGE CROPS IN NEBRASKA, 



Stipa rohusta. — A native of the Rocky Mountain regions and the 

 western portion of the Great Plains, where it is a common constituent 

 of the native ha}'. The station plot sown in 1897 withstood the drought 

 of 1901 and gave good crops of ha}- in 1902 and 1903. This grass is 

 worthy of an extended trial. 



PASTURES AND MEADOWS. 

 NATIVE GRASSES. 



Since the native grasses and forage plants play such an important 

 role in the agricultural economy of Nel^raska, it will not be out of 

 place to discuss them brieflv. Thev have been verv thorouohlv studied 

 b}^ Dr. C. E. Bessev and other ])otanists of the State and for detailed 

 infonuation the reader is referred to articles by Dr. Besse}' in the 

 reports of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture from 1886 to 

 1896, to the Phytogeography of Ne))raska, ])v Pound and Clements, 

 the Flora of the Sand Hills, l)v Rvdberg, and to various articles on 

 the grasses of Nebraska by Webber, Smith, and others. 



The agricultural grasses are divided into two types, according to 

 root formation — ))unch grasses and sod formers. The bunch grasses 

 form a crown which increases from year to year and becomes in tiiue 

 a raised tussock. Where bunch grasses abound there is no continuous 

 sod but a succession of tussocks with bare soil between which sup- 

 ports a variety of other plants scattered here and there. Some of the 

 common ])unch grasses are l)luestem, switch-grass, and Indian grass. 

 Sod formers have rootstocks or stolons by which they spread, forming 

 a contiimous sod. Buffalo grass and Kentucky l)luegrass are examples 

 of this type. 



The grasses mav also be divided into those which grow tall enouirh 

 to make hay, and are sometimes called "'tall grasses,"' and the strictly 

 grazing grasses of the western plains, called ''short grasses.'"' 



Hav is made from the tall grasses which are found on all unJjroken 

 prairie of the eastern portion of the State. In the wet places or 

 sloughs, there are various swamp grasses (chieily slough-grass, SjKir- 

 tiiia cyiiosuroldrK)^ which, when cut voung, furnish a fair, though 

 coarse, hay. The most important hay grasses are: Little l)luestem 

 {Andi'opoijon scoparlus Michx.), Big bluestem (Andropogon fnrcatut< 

 Muhl.). Indian grass {Androjxxjon nutdux L.), Switch-grass {Pan- 

 icum rlrgatuiii L.), and Side-oats grama {BoHteloua. carflprndula 

 Michx.). These five grasses form the great ])ulk of the prairie ha}' 

 throughout the eastern half of the State. In the western portion these 

 grasses are confined to the river })ottoms, draws, and other moist 

 spots, and often are found in sufficient abundance formowins". These 

 same grasses are also used I'oi- native pasture. But in tlic grazing 



