GKNKKAL SU11VP:Y AND SUMMARY. 55 



GENERAL SURVEY AND SUMMARY. 



The field work already described includes investigations which have 

 been carried on in 32 States and Territories. In many of these States 

 the work has been extensive and thorough. As a result the actual 

 conditions of the meadows and range lands hare been ascertained; the 

 \aiious native forage plants have been collected and studied and their 

 tilnindance, distril)ution, and relative value discovered. The forage 

 plants cultivated in th(^ various regions have also been studied and the 

 capal>ilities of the regions for growing others not already grown have 

 been in many instances determined. Special attention has been given 

 to the causes of the deteriorated condition of the vast areas of grazing 

 lands belonging to the public domain with a view to devising means 

 for i-emoving the causes and restoring the ranges to their original 

 productiveness and carrying capacity. The particular problems calling 

 for most immediate attention in each region have been determined and 

 steps taken toward their solution. As a result of the knowledge thus 

 t>-ained the Division is able to reconniiend to farmers and stockmen in 

 the various parts of the country the forage crops adapted to their con- 

 ditions and special requirements, and also to carry on intelligently 

 experiments with introduced forage plants likely to prove valuable in 

 any particular region. 



Not the least important results of these investigations has been the 

 determination of the vast natural forage resources of the country. 

 Our heritage in this respect has never been fully known and much less 

 appreciated. In our search for grasses and forage plants to cultivate 

 we have tried many from different parts of the world, while neglect- 

 ing those all al)out us. There are growing within the bounds of the 

 United States over one thousand species of grasses, and perhaps one 

 hundred or more other plants of sufficient forage value to justify their 

 investigation and cultivation. Of course, a great many of these grasses 

 have little forage value, either on account of their scarcity, small size, 

 or some quality which renders them unpalatable to stock. A large 

 number of them are, however, of great value for hay and grazing pur- 

 poses, and can probably not be surpassed by any in the world. Because 

 they are native they have been too often not only neglected, but abused, 

 and, in some cases, partially exterminated. It is certainly time we 

 ])egan to properly estimate and appreciate the great value of our native 

 grasses and forage plants and take steps toward their conservation. 

 Experiments have already shown that many of these most valuable 

 grasses take kindly to cultivatiDn and produce much larger quan- 

 tities of hay and pasture when a little attention is given them. The 

 buffalo grass, the grama grasses, l)lue grasses, the mesquites, the 

 fescues, and the wheat and rye grasses, which furnish the. bulk of the 

 feed for the immense iuuu))ers of stock which roam over the public 



