32 FIELD WUKK OF DIVISION OF AGKOSTOLOGY. 



meadows and range lands of the areas just (lescri})cd have not ))een 

 so badly injured l>ut that a period of rest would largely restore them 

 to their original vigor and carrying capacit3\ 



Prof. L. H. Pammel also did work in central and northern Colorado 

 during the summer of 1896. His investigations were carried on in 

 the vicinity of Fort Morgan, Greely, Fort Collins, Golden, Denver, 

 and Colorado Springs. The results were published in Bulletin No. 9 

 of this Division, which has already been referred to in connection 

 with the field work in Nebraska and Iowa. In this report the forage 

 plants and conditions of this portion of Colorado are discussed. The 

 chemical composition of a number of the most important native 

 species is given, showing that they compare very favorably wdth the 

 cultivated grasses. In referring to the importance of improving the 

 native species for cultivation, we ma}^ quote the following: 



If by selection from the native grasses an improved form of western wiieat grass 

 or grama grass can be introduced into the semiarid regions, it will give greater 

 returns than any of those already there, the live stock industry will he put on a 

 better hasis, and its success assureil. 



In 189T Prof. Aven Nelson, of the Wyoming Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, made a special study of the lied Desert of southern 

 Wyoming and its forage resources. This region covers more than 

 11,000 square miles. ' It is a high, undulating plain or plateau, averag- 

 ing from 6,000 to 7,000 feet elevation (PI. IX). The water sui)ply is 

 so limited and of sucii a poor (juality that very little of the land can be 

 used for cultivation, consequently it is distinctly a stock region. During 

 the summer season it afi'ords very little in the way of forage, hence it is 

 used almost entirely as a winter range. Professor Nelson says: 



From the 1st of .Tune to the 1st of November the region is practically devoid of 

 stock of all kinds. With the coming of the snows the herds and flocks are worked 

 back into the desert from the summer pastures in the hills and mountains. Through 

 the winter and spring months thousands of head feed upon this r(jugh forage, snow- 

 drifts furnishing the water for all. The sheep herder in his wagon, also dependent 

 upon tlie snows, guides his flock from district to district as hew pasturage is needed. 

 By the time the stock is taken to the sunuuer range the desert is barren indeed. 

 Grasses, sagebrush, salt sage, white sage, rabbit brush, and even cedar, have been 

 grazed so closely that every edible sprig is gone. 



In the report from which the above quotation is made (Bulletin 

 No. 13, Division of Agrostology, "The lied. Desert of Wyoming and 

 its Forage Resources"') Professor Nelson gives a thorough description 

 of the forage problems of this interesting region, })oth from a scientific 

 and economic standpoint. The topography, geology, soil, and climate 

 are discussed. The soil over the greater portion of the desert is nearlj' 

 all impregnated with alkali. Analyses of samples of soil taken from 

 various localities show from 0.12 per cent to 7.20 per cent of water- 

 soluble salts. This does not, however, represent the largest amounts 



