730 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Onlj' a few species of cultivated forage plants bave been successfully used in 

 the restoration and improvement of native pastures and meadows. Redtop 

 (Agrostis alha) and timothy (Phleum pratensc) are the most Important and in 

 many localities, especially in the Rociiy Mountain and coast ranges, these 

 grasses have largely replaced the native sedgy and weedy vegetation. Good 

 stands of redtop and timothy had been established in the Kootenai Mountains 

 of Montana as early as 1897 and experiments carried on by this Department in 

 that year in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming resulted in producing a de- 

 cided increase in the yield of pastures at an altitude of 7,000 ft. and in creek 

 bottoms at 4,500 ft. Livestock owners have successfully sown seed of these 

 grasses upon moist meadows around Steins Mountains in eastern Oregon. 

 Throughout the Rocky Mountain region they have become disseminated from 

 feed hauled into the mountains, as well as by systematic effort. Red clover, 

 white clover, and orchard grass have been used successfully in a more limited 

 way in mountain meadows and upon clear woodlands. 



The systematic efforts of introducing these legumes and grasses into moun- 

 tain meadows vary greatly, the seed l)eing either scattered upon the snow, sown 

 in autumn upon comparatively dry land, or sown in the spring upon wet ground 

 as the snow melted. Late fall seeding is considered most generally successful 

 when no cultivation is given. Willow lands in mountain meadows are well 

 adapted to timothy, and this grass is successfully grown with little or no culti- 

 vation upon such lands in the Okonogan Valley of Washington. It is stated 

 that care must be exercised in the cultivation of moist mountain meadows as 

 the breaking of the turf may result in destructive erosion. Redtop is more im- 

 portant in many places than timothy, being adapted to moist situations. It is, 

 however, more difficult to establish because the seeds are not so easily covered. 



Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is spreading very rapidly under the graz- 

 ing conditions obtaining in the eastern edge of the cattle country. It is appar- 

 ently working its way into the small draws and ravines of native pastures of 

 western Kansas and Nebraska, and farther east in the lirushy regions of Arkan- 

 sas and Missouri it continues to gain ground among the more aggressive native 

 grasses and brush and has already become so firmly established that over large 

 sections of this region it is now the main pasture grass. It is also found en- 

 tirely practicable to assist the spread of this grass by seeding it upon unculti- 

 vated land. 



Alfilerilla, wild oats, the brome grasses, and wall barley (Hordcuni murinum) 

 are classified as introduced weedy species, which in certain sections have sup- 

 planted in a great measure the native vegetation and now furnish a large part 

 of the feed on the uncultivated lands. 



Notes are also given on the character of seeding adapted to different regions, 

 the burning and cultivation of native pastures, and weeds occurring in the 

 sanio. 



Investigations on the differences in taking' up plant food in the Legumi- 

 nos£e and the Gramineae and their probable cause, O. Lemmermann (Laiidw. 

 Vers. Stat., 67 (1901), Vo. 3-.'^ pp. 208-251).— This paper discusses the differ- 

 ences in the root systems of these two orders with reference to their structure, 

 their acidity and excretions, and the construction of their transpiratory organs. 



The results of the experiments conducted show that the Gramine;e are capable 

 of transpiring larger quantities of water than the Ijeguminosfe, and that for 

 this reason where the two kinds of plants are grown together the Graminete 

 are placed to a better advantage with reference to taking up water from the 

 soil together with the soluble plant food it contains. Several adaptations in 

 the Leguminosa*, however, tend to neutralize this advantage as, for instance, 

 the large leaf surface, the movement of the leaflets, the production of com- 



