THE GREAT PLAINS. 19 



of coiisid('riil)lo >tiHHn-tiiiiity. Nevertheless, iiifluemed very often b\' 

 unserupulous persons who were willing- to protit by the ignorance on the 

 part of tlie home seeker of the actual conditions, people continued to take 

 up these lands farther and farther west, in central and western Kan- 

 sas and Nebraska, and break the virgin prairie .sod with its luxuriant 

 growth of native grasses, in hope of growing profitable crops of cereals. 

 In this, however, the}' were destined to disappointment. Experience 

 has shown that beyond the ninety-eighth meridian prolitable crops of 

 cereals are not produced oftener than one to three times in live years, 

 so that farming without some means of irrigation can not be made a 

 financial success. 



Those who possessed sufficient acumen to appreciate these facts 

 turned their attention at once to stock raising; but under the impres- 

 sion, apparentlv, that the torage resources of the countr}' were inex- 

 haustible, the pastures were overstocked and soon their carrying 

 capacity was greath' lessened. When the more progressive stockmen 

 began to realize that the native pastures were rapidly deteriorating 

 and were threatened with destruction if the same treatment was longer 

 continued, they began to make inquiries regarding the matter, wish- 

 ing to tind some remedy. Many of the people began to gradually 

 realize that the}- had made a serious mistake in breaking these line 

 pasture and meadow lands in a hopeless endeavor to produce paj'ing 

 crops of wheat and corn. Thus thev l)egan to inquire as to what could 

 be done to put down these cultivated lands to permanent meadows and 

 pastures again. As the people turned their attention to stock raising 

 and dairying, the question of drought-resistant soiling crops and other 

 forage plants which might prove successful also naturally arose. It 

 was in response to pressing demands for information along these 

 various lines that the Division of Agrostology Ijegan immediately 

 after its organization to undertake a thorough investigation of the 

 different problems referred to. 



WORK DONK. 



Field work was commenced in this region by Mr. 1*. A. Rydberg 

 and the writer. Studies and collections of the grasses and forage 

 plants of the Platte River Valley were made at Vallev, Central City, 

 Kearne}-, and North Platte, Nebr. Collections of roots, seeds, and 

 specimens of the more important native species were collected and 

 careful notes made regarding the forage value, abundance, distribution, 

 and importance of each. With the seeds and roots secured, plots in 

 the grass garden on the Department grounds at Washington were 

 made and an opportunity afforded for studying the behavior of these 

 plants under cultivation. The results of this field work were published 

 in Bulletin No. 5 of this Division, entitled ''A Report on the Grasses 

 and Forage Plants of the Rocky Mountain Region." The major por- 



