56 FIELD WORK OF DIVISION OF AGROSTOLOGY. 



lands of the great West, are of inestimable value and could not !)e suc- 

 cessfuU}' replaced bv any importations from foreign countries. To 

 discover why this is true requires no great amount of research. 

 These grasses have for ages grown under the prevailing unfavorable 

 climatic conditions and have survived in the struggle for existence by 

 reason of their having liecome adapted to these conditions. Judging 

 from the wonderful feats which horticulturists have alread}^ per- 

 formed in the selection and breeding of plants, there appears no 

 reason why, by proper cultivation and selection, many of these native 

 grasses should not be greatl}^ improved, and in cases wliere they pos- 

 sess characteristics which tend to interfere with their successful 

 cultivation, these maj" no doulit l)e eliminated. Some of these native 

 grasses are at present excluded from becoming of great commercial 

 importance on account of the difficulty of manipulating the seed. 

 This difficult}^ is frequently the result of the presenc(^ of awns or hairs 

 on the floral envelope enclosing the seed. These could, l)y careful 

 selection and ])reeding, ])e gotten rid of. Hope for anj^ great amount 

 of success with introduced forage plants is only to be realized in case 

 of those lu'ought from regions whose climatic conditions are similar 

 to ours. In all the field work special effort has been made to call the 

 attention of stockmen and ranchmen to the value of the native grasses 

 and to reconmiend means of perpetuating and increasing them. 

 Investigations already carried on have demonstrated the possibility of 

 restoring worn out range and pasture lands to nearly, if not quite, 

 their original carrying capacit}' liy entirely practical and economical 

 methods of treatment in cases where the grasses have not been practi- 

 cally exterminated. Where there is still present a sufficient amount of 

 good grass to produce seed there is a chance for restoring the range 

 without great difficulty. Allowing the range a complete rest for a 

 year or two produces results which astonish one who has never wit- 

 nessed the experiment. Alternation in pasturing also produces ver}' 

 beneficial results, with less loss of grazing. In following this method 

 pastures should be so ai'ranged that the stock can })e kept from certain 

 areas for a sufficient length of time to allow the grasses to mature and 

 scatter their seed, or to regain the vigor of their root system, which has 

 been greatly injured bj^ close grazing and trampling. Some of the best 

 grazing grasses, as the blue grama, l)uft'alo grass, and curlj^ mesquite, 

 reproduce most extensively by means of creeping rootstocks sent out 

 by the plants, while others, as in the case of the })unch grasses, depend 

 largely upon their seed for propagation. Altei'nation in pasturing 

 gives the plants an opportunity to recuperate and regain their ^'igor. 

 Another very efficient means of improvement is the disking of the 

 range or pasture. The great advantage of this is that l)y the loosening 

 of the soil the roots, which have been prevented from normal devel- 

 ment b}^ the trampling of the stock and the lack of moisture supplv, 



