THE LANDS OF UTAH. 109 
cease to be injured by it. All of the so called “Salt grasses” are cropped 
to a greater or less extent by stock, 
The chief grasses of the elevated timber tracts belong to the genus 
Bromus. When young they are good, but they become stale and valueless 
with age. The only grass that can compare with those of the eastern mead- 
ows, and which forms a continuous sod and covers the gre vind with a uniform 
growth, is a variety of Aira cwspitosa, a red topped grass, which was found 
surrounding the small lakes of the mountains and plateaus, at elevations of 
11,000 feet and over. This is an exceedingly beautiful grass as it waves 
in the gentle breezes that fan the lakelets of the upper regions. 
Phragmites communis, the so called “Cane”, is common in the glades 
and sloughs; and, though large and rather dry, it furnishes the only verdure 
obtainable for months in severe seasons. 
Much of the hay and pasturage of the country, which is there called 
grass, consists of plants of different families. Notable among these are 
several species of Carex (sedges), particularly Carex Jamesii, which springs 
up wherever artificial meadows are made by the system of flooding com- 
monly practiced. The plants have large, strong, subterranean root- 
stocks, forming a tangled mass which, when once established, cannot 
easily be eradicated. The leaves are broad and gerasslike, and, though 
coarse and comparatively insipid, form a good sward which can be 
mowed—a rare condition in that country; and hence such meadows are 
highly prized. 
Juncus Balticus, var. montanus, which has a blue color, terete 
culms, and tough fiber, and which the settlers call ‘“ Wire grass”, is 
very abundant. It is cut for hay, and is said to serve a good purpose as 
such. 
There are some shrubs that furnish excellent browsing, among which, 
perhaps, the grease wood takes the first rank. The sage brush, Artemisia, 
on the contrary, is seldom resorted to. There is one shrub to which great 
virtues are ascribed which may be mentioned in this comection. This 
is the Cercocarpus parvifolius, which occupies the mountain sides for a 
wide zone of altitude. The foliage, though not strictly evergreen, remains 
most of the winter, and is said to afford the only food for horses and cattle 
