324 GRAZING INDICATORS. 



"No introduced forage plants, including species from cool, moist climates 

 and higher altitudes, made any growth on the small range enclosure, and but 

 few of them persisted in the forage garden for any considerable length of 

 time. Both the native and Australian saltbushes failed repeatedly to secure 

 a hold or make any growth of extended duration, though they were planted 

 on land occasionally flooded with storm water. The growth of summer 

 annuals with average rainfall and no flood water was short, and they matured 

 little or no seed. Of the winter-growing species alfilaria and Indian wheat 

 (Plantago) made good growth when the rains were favorable, and invariably 

 matured seeds. Root-planting experiments were generally unsuccessful." 



Wooton (1916: 38) gives an account of reseeding studies on the Santa Rita 

 Range Reserve which is in entire accord with that of Griffiths and Thornber : 



"Practically all attempts to introduce new species of forage plants or to 

 increase the relative abundance of particular endemic species beyond their 

 natural importance in the plant associations of the region have resulted 

 negatively. In a few cases introduced plants, like alfilaria or some aggres- 

 sive annuals, have seemed to promise returns, but in the course of a few years 

 the native perennials have crowded them out. The scattering of seeds of the 

 local native species upon bare ground has proved to be well worth the trouble, 

 since the practice has resulted in the more rapid recovery of such areas. This 

 procedure has also put a crop of grass upon some soils where it was predicted 

 that nothing would grow. " 



Introduction and reseeding have been generally successful in mountain 

 meadows and other regions where the rainfall is relatively high, as well as in 

 local areas of the sandhills and in river valleys where the water-content is above 

 normal as a result of runoff or underground drainage. Griffith (1907:22) 

 concludes : 



"Profitable partial cultivation of native pastures must be confined to 

 productive areas in regions of sufficient rainfall to permit at least the occa- 

 sional cultivation of some of the hardier crops. The areas where reseeding 

 methods on an economic basis are applicable extend to the western plains, 

 and are scattered throughout the mountains in meadows, high valleys, and 

 other situations where the requisite moisture occurs." 



Cotton (1908: 23) states that experiments carried on in the mountain 

 meadows of the Pacific coast "show that the carrying capacity can be greatly 

 increased by reseeding with tame grasses. The grasses best suited to this 

 purpose are timothy and redtop." 



Vinall (1911:9), in discussing forage crops for the sandhill region of 

 Nebraska, strongly urges that "a good percentage of clover be mixed with 

 the native hay, as all the clovers grow naturally on the moist lands of the hay 

 flats. In fact, no part of the United States seems able to produce clover with 

 less care or attention than this wet-valley region, and its use here is strongly 

 urged. Red clover seeded in 1895 in meadow sod, without plowing or other 

 cultivation, has reseeded itself from year to year in haying land, and is today 

 in better condition and shows a better stand than ever before. " 



Prerequisites for seeding and planting. — The above accounts make it clear 

 that water is the chief limiting factor in the establishment of seedlings or 

 mature plants and that competition for water determines their persistence. 

 Where the water-content is more or less in excess of the needs of the native 



