14 FIELD W.ORK OF DIVISION OF AGROSTOLOGY. 



(jiiantitv t)f beach-grass seed as well as a considerable nunibei- of roots 

 foi- transplanting. 



Mr. T. A. Williams, late, assistant chief of the Division, did work 

 in the vicinit\^ of Norfolk, Va., securing seeds and roots of the bitter 

 panic grass and a closely related species, which was considered new, 

 and has been described in Circular No. 29 of this Division as Panicum 

 aniaroidoi^ Scribn. & Merrill. 



Mr. T. H. Kearne}^, forniorly an assistant in the Division, also did 

 tield work at Norfolk, Va. ; Wilmington, N. C, and Savannah and 

 Augusta, (xa. 



T\w question of the restoration of worn-out meadows and pasture 

 lands is one of considerable importance in the Atlantic coast region, 

 and particularly so in the New England States. Field studies of this 

 question have been made by the Chief of the Division in Maine and 

 Massachusetts, and experimental work looking toward the solution of 

 this problem has been already arranged with the New Hampshire 

 Experiment Station. 



No separate pu))lication giving the results of the held work done 

 aloup- the Atlantic coast has been issued. Much of the matter con- 

 tained in Professor Scribner's Yearbook article for 1894 on "Grasses 

 as sand and soil l^inders" was the result of this work, and also the 

 article on " Sand-])inding grasses" by the same author in the Year- 

 book for 1898. Bulletin No. 1 of the Division contains the results of 

 Mr. Kearne3''s work in this region. An alphabetical and systematic 

 list of the grasses and forage plants found is given with notes upon 

 their habitat, habit of growth, distribution, abundance, and economic 

 value. 



GULF COAST. 



CONDITIONS AND l']iOI5I>EMS. 



The forage pro1)leins in the (iulf States are verv numerous and 

 varied. Their great importance was early recognized, and investiga- 

 tions conmienced inunediatelv after the organization of the Division. 

 The long continued cultivation of single crops, especially cotton, had 

 greatly impoverished the soil and led the more progressive planters to 

 see the necessity of adopting a more diversified s3'stem of agriculture. 

 Until (juite recentlj^ a considerable portion of the hay consumed in the 

 Gulf States was imported from other localities, and it was commonly 

 })elieved that good pastures and meadows could not be made in that 

 region. The great diversity of soils and climatic conditions, together 

 with the presence of between 300 and 100 species of native grasses found 

 growing in these States, natui-ally suggested the belief that the com- 

 monly accepted view regarding the forage possibilities of this region 

 was erroneous. The great abundance of native grasses indicates that 

 the South is naturally a grass producing country, and that considerable 



