ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. 33 



of alkali that arc found. In the bed of a dry i^ond a species of 

 ^('irjHfs was found g-rowing- where the surface soil contained more than 

 60 per cent of soluble salts. Very little of this alkali is what is known 

 as " l)lack alkali,-' the greater portion of it being what is called " white 

 alkali," of which sodium sulphate is the chief constituent. The bulk 

 of the forage is furnished by saltbushes, sagebrushes, and other plants 

 than grasses. Wheat grasses {Agropyron spp.) are most a})undant. 

 The amount of alkali in the soil renders the growth of many grasses 

 impossible. 



Regarding the present condition of the ranges of this region as com- 

 pared with the past, we may (|uote the following- 

 According to the most relia)ile sheep men, the sanu> areas tliat twenty years ago 

 would only support one sheej) will now support fi-oni three to five. This they attrih- 

 ute to the gain in the strength of the soil, due to accumulating manure. It seems 

 probable that a more potent factor is found in the following; The yegetation chiefly 

 depended upon for forage is composed of the large number of small shru])s of many 

 kinds previously mentioned. Gutting downi to the ground of such vegetation enor- 

 mously increases the number of annual shoots. From winter to winter this siirubby 

 vegetation has been browsed down closer and closer to the woody bases of the 2>lants, 

 until now the tender annual shoots are produced in much greater abundance. The 

 effectiveness of this browsing is, of course, dependent upon the region l)eing used as 

 a winter pasture only, giving time for growth and recovery each summer. 



It will be noted that the improv^ement which has taken place here 

 affects the shrubby forage plants and not the grasses, and that this 

 improvement is dependent upon the resting of the range land during 

 the greater portion ot the growing season. Regarding the native 

 grasses the author says: 



The native grasses also are worthy of trial. The writer has seen wonderful results 

 from seeding the ground to some of these, especially the wheat grasses, and this, too, 

 where the water used for irrigation was far from the best and the ground strong with 

 alkali. Furthermore, the increase in the water supply is not quite hopeless. The 

 region contains many natural basins in which, by the expenditure of a little labor in 

 the construction of dams, much of tlie water from the accunmlated winter snowdrifts 

 might be saved for use later in the season. 



In addition to the subjects already mentioned, descriptions and notes 

 regarding the forage value of the various saltbushes {Atrl^lex spp.) 

 and sagebrushes {Artemisia spp.) are given. There is little doubt that 

 some of these plants will prove worthy of cultivation. Seeds of many 

 of them have already been secured and experiments commenced to 

 demonstrate their value under cultivation in arid and alkali soils. 

 Descriptions of the grasses of the range are also given, with full notes 

 regarding their value and the best methods of increasing their produc- 

 tion. Besides the Red Desert proper, an investigation was also made 

 of the foothills and mountains which furnish grazing for stock during 

 the summer season (PI. X, fig. 2). The forage here consists much more 

 .largely of grasses, the most a))undant and valuable of which are 

 1923— No. 25 3 



