332 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A special effort has been made to bring into condition for breeding 

 investigations the phmtations at Chico, Cal. ; San Antonio, Tex.; 

 and Brownsville, Tex., as it is becoming more and more apparent 

 that breeding is a necessary part of this work. As a basis for such 

 investigations, a large number of species are being grown from seed 

 to determine the faithfulness with which these ])lants reproduce 

 through breeding, and how much variation is to be looked for in 

 such propagation. The indications are that prickly pears, which are 

 generally supposed to be exceedingly variable and badly hybridized, 

 breed true from seed. In March and April about 9 tons of spineless 

 pear cuttings Avere distributed, mostl}^ to the warmer sections of the 

 country. The past severe winter demonstrated that the area mapped 

 as possibly being adapted to the culture of these plants in Bulletin 

 1-10 of the Bureau of Plant Industry must be cut doAvn at least 25 

 per cent. This aj^plies especially to the Gulf Coast region, from 

 Texas to Florida. In California the winter w^as quite severe. All 

 varieties of spineless pear except the large, glaucous, blue-green 

 forms of the Ojmntia rohusta group, which are slow growers, were 

 more or less injured, but the majority of the species at Chico, Cal., 

 recovered with only about 5 per cent of loss of cuttings. In some 

 portions of the State they were too badly frozen to recover, except 

 irom the roots. 



Since the past winter was a very severe test, the plants can be said 

 to be an economic possibility in the interior valleys of California. 

 At Falfurrias, Tex., they were but slightly injured, but the winter 

 was not severe in that section. The present indications are that 

 spineless prickly-pear culture in Texas will be confined to the region 

 lying south of the Texas-Mexican Railway, and it is possible that 

 it can not be grown in some portions of this area. 



A survey of the prickly-pear region of Texas has been instituted to 

 determine the extent and importance of native spiny pear feeding at 

 the present time. Data already collected show conclusively that 

 dairy and other cattle produce well with no other roughage. 



Range investigations. — Doctor Griffiths has also continued his 

 investigations relating to range management. The results of investi- 

 gations upon the Santa Rita National Forest in Arizona have been 

 published since the last report in a bulletin of this Bureau. Experi- 

 mental grazing has been begun during the past year under the imme- 

 diate supervision of a representative of the Department. Cutting 

 and removing the annual growth of grass is being carried out upon 

 other tracts in cooperation with ranches. Other portions are being 

 continued without stock for purposes of comparison. 



A study of range forage is being continued as time permits in con- 

 nection with other field work, as is also the special study of the more 

 strictly winter sheep pastures of the country, to determine the pro- 

 ductivity and best methods of handling them. 



In the West and Northwest studies of special areas of native pas- 

 ture lands, which are being handled in a definite way and which 

 have been under observation for a number of years, have been con- 

 tinued. A report on these studies will be ready for publication in the 

 near future. This report will also include data on the effect of seed- 

 ing upon mountain meadows and dry hillsides in three or four widely 

 separated, distinct, and typical regions. 



