THE SOUTHWEST. 47 



portion of tlic United State^-i, from 15 to 25 per cent of the iinniuil 

 proeipitiition occurrini;- during- July and Aiig-ust, the snmlle.st anioiuits 

 oecurrino- in May and June, the water supply rapidly decreasiui.'" dur- 

 ing the late winter and spring months. As a result of this the grasses 

 and forage plants are at their best during the autunm. 



Mr. Orciitt, however, secured a considcralde amount of informa- 

 tion from the stockmen and ranchmen regarding the grasses and range 

 conditions. Mr. J. G. Smith, in connection with his work in Texas, 

 which has ah'cady been referred to, also spent some time in New Mex- 

 ico, particularly in the Pecos Valley and a})out Silver City in the 

 southwestern part of the Territory. Mr. AVilliams also spent a short 

 time in New Mexico in the spring of ll*()0 and visited Tucson, Ariz. 

 The special purpose of this trip l^eing to arrange for cooperative work 

 with the experiment stations, very little opportunity was ati'orded for 

 the investigation of the ranges. The results of Mr. Williams's work 

 are.pul)lished in Circular No. S, Office of the Secretary. The particular 

 problems in each State and Territory visited Avere discussed in this 

 paper. The great need of undertaking some work looking to the 

 improvement of the ranges and the introduction and cultivation of 

 hard}^ forage plants in these two Territories was pointed out, and 

 arrangements were made with the Arizona and NeAV Mexico experi- 

 ment stations to carr}' on investigations along these lines. These 

 experiments have already been undertaken, but have not progressed 

 far enough at present to produce any decided results. 



During the autumn of 1900 Dr. David Griffiths, special field agent 

 of the Division, was detailed to Arizona to look after the cooperative 

 work just referred to, and also to make a collection of seeds of the 

 native grasses and forage plants. Dr. Griffiths spent several Aveeks at 

 this Av^ork and succeeded in obtaining large <piantities of seed of some of 

 the l)est of the native grasses and other forage plants. He also procured 

 a considerable numl)er of specimens, a list of which has recently been 

 published in Circular No. 3ii of this Division. The seed secured by him 

 Avere used chiefly in carrying on experiments in Arizona and New 

 Mexico, with a view to determining the possibilities and behavior of 

 these plants luider cultivation. Mr. Jtunes K. Metcalfe, Avho lives in 

 the Adcinity of Sih^er City, N. Mex., although not officiall}^ connected 

 Avith the Division, is very nuich interested in the propagation of the 

 nati\'e forage plants, and has done umch Aaluable Avork in this direc- 

 tion. Through his aid the Division has been able to secure quantities 

 of seed of a numl)er of very \'aluable native forage plants. Of these 

 we may mention particularly the ])un)ous panic grass {Panlcivni 

 hulbosum). The accompanA'ing illustration (PI. XX, tig. 1.) gives 

 an idea of the l)ehaAdor of this plant luider cidtiA'ation. The illustra- 

 tion shows a plat of this grass grown on the Department grounds on 

 the Potomac Flats. The chief value of this plant lies in its groat 



