COMPOSITION AND DENSITY OF THE NATIVE VEGETA- 

 TION IN THE VICINITY OF THE NORTHERN 

 GREAT PLAINS FIELD STATION 



By J. T. Sarvis 



Assistant in Dry-Land Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department 



of Agriculture 



INTRODUCTION 



The grazing industry in the Northern Great Plains area is intimately 

 concerned with the composition and density of the native vegetation. 

 This paper deals with the native vegetation as it exists at present in the 

 section under consideration. While parts of the discussion will apply in 

 general to the Great Plains area, it pertains to western North Dakota and 

 in particular to the territory adjacent to the Missouri River on the west 

 near Mandan. This point lies practically on the one hundred and first 

 meridian and just south of the forty-seventh parallel, north latitude. 

 The Bureau of Plant Industry has one of a number of field stations located 

 here under the direction of the OfRce of Dry-Land Agriculture. One of 

 the lines of investigation in connection with this station is a grazing ex- 

 periment in cooperation with the North Dakota State Experiment Sta- 

 tion. This investigation is primarily concerned with determining the 

 carrying capacity of the range in that section and working out a grazing 

 system adapted to conditions in the Great Plains. In connection with 

 this work it is necessary to make detailed studies of the native vegeta- 

 tion in order to observe any changes that may occur in the structure of 

 the plant cover. These studies have furnished the material of this paper.* 



TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL 



The topography of the area around Mandan varies from rolling to 

 nearly level. The land is cut by numerous ravines and coulees, which 

 drain into the Heart and Missouri Rivers. The altitude of the field sta- 

 tion is approximately i ,700 feet above sea level. 



The following description of the soil of this area is quoted from "The 

 Story of the Prairies" by Willard (9),^ formerly geologist at the North 

 Dakota Agricultural College: 



A belt having an indefinite edge to the westward lies along the west side of the 

 Missouri River, which belt represents the western limits of the glaciated area of North 

 Dakota, and of the Continent of North America. This "belt" of land along the west 



' The annual reports by the author of the cooperative grazing experiment at Mandan have been frequently- 

 referred to and used in the preparation of this paper. These reports are on file in the Office of Dry-Land 

 Agriculture, the North Dakota Agricultural College, and the Mandan Field Station. 



2 Reference is made by number (italic) to "Literature cited," p. 71-72. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. XIX, No. a 



Washington, D. C. Apr. 15. 1930 



tx Key No. G-188 



(63) 

 164176°— 20 2 



