OVERGRAZING. 305 



and that others had entered to take their place. For example, it has been 

 the almost universal opinion of farmers and stockmen that buffalo grass 

 vanished from the prairies with the going of the buffalo and that the blue- 

 stems had come in from the East to replace it. This opinion has been 

 shared to a large degree by scientific men. Bessey (1887: 216) early noted 

 the general relations of the grasses to cultivation and fire : 



" Several entirely distinct species are popularly known as buffalo grass. All 

 are, however, short grasses, unfit for making into hay, and although appar- 

 ently quite nutritious, they supply so small an amount of food per acre that 

 as the land becomes more valuable the farmer can not afford to retain them. 

 But even should he wish to retain them, he can not; for they are unfitted to 

 battle successfully with bluegrass and white clover, with the bluestems and 

 rank weeds which always spring into prominence upon the prairies when the 

 settler stops the annual prairie fires. Moreover, they can not endure the 

 close cropping and tramping to which they are subjected when the land is 

 inclosed and used for regular farming purposes. Already the genuine buffalo 

 grass (Buchloe dactyloides) has practically disappeared from the eastern third 

 of the State. Of course I know very well that there are patches of it here 

 and there in these older counties; it may be found in such patches within a 

 mile or two of the capitol building; but these little patches are as nothing when 

 compared with its former extensive distribution. A second grass commonly 

 known by the name of buffalo grass (Bouteloua oligostachya) is fast following 

 the first. 



"Buffalo grass, Bulbilis dactyloides, is widely spread throughout the Sand- 

 hill region. This valuable forage plant is rapidly disappearing. Its hard- 

 awned fruits were especially suited for distribution by the buffalo, and since 

 these have disappeared and the prairie fires are no longer allowed to sweep 

 the plains, the buffalo grass is being rapidly choked out by the ranker species. 

 It is the most valuable native pasture grass, but is rapidly passing toward 

 extinction" (1893:288). 



Webber (1890: 37) states that "the buffalo grass, once the prevailing plant, 

 is, in eastern Nebraska, found only in small patches, and is fast becoming 

 rare, " while Crandall (1890: 136) says that "this, the true buffalo grass, which 

 once formed so large a portion of the prairie turf, is now found in this region 

 only in isolated patches. " 



Pound and Clements (1898 : 246, 1900 : 350) found evidence to indicate 

 that the buffalo grass had disappeared only where the land had been broken 

 for cultivation. 



"The buffalo grass was, until recently, supposed to have once covered the 

 greater portion of Nebraska; its disappearance has, as a matter of sentiment, 

 been connected with that of the buffalo. That such a supposition is entirely 

 erroneous is beyond a doubt. The patches of buffalo grass, which are found 

 scattered here and there over the State, are to be regarded as intrusions rather 

 than stragglers left by a retreating species. " 



In 1897, Williams wrote : 



"This famous range grass is still quite abundant in the regions west of the 

 James Valley in both Dakotas. It is by no means as rare as most people 

 suppose, being frequently overlooked on account of its similarity to certain 

 of the grama grasses and because it seldom fruits in any great quantity. " (14) 



