26 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. ', 



soil called '' Usar land" exist. These tracts are uncultivated, and an 

 attempt is being made to procure grasses suitable for cultivation on 

 them. 



We*have complied with these requests so far as possible, but the 

 difficulty of procuring seeds in distant localities hasf much restricted 

 our distribution. Packages of the seeds of about thirty native spe- 

 cies were sent to the different agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations for trial, and these were also sown in our own grounds, where 

 most are growing and giving promise of usefulness. 



Under my direction the Botanist has spent several weeks of this 

 season in an examination of the native grasses of the arid regions of 

 the West. This is but a beginning in this important work, and it 

 will be resumed as soon as circumstances will permit. 



The eastern limit which has been usually fixed as the beginning of 

 the arid regions is the one hundredth meridian. It is said that nearly 

 half of the public domain, exclusive of Alaska, lies west of this line, 

 and amounts to some 900,000,000 acres. 



Much the larger part of this immense region consists of mountains 

 and arid plains. A large part of the land on the Pacific coast is pro- 

 ductive without irrigation, and some of the finest lands for grazing 

 purposes lie in the mountain valleys and parks where there is an 

 abundant rainfall. 



The remainder of this great domain west of the line above men- 

 tioned consists mainly of arid land, such as the high mesas of New 

 Mexico, Western Texas, Arizona, and Southern California, together 

 with the interior plains of Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming, in addition 

 to those of Western Nebraska, Western Kansas, and Eastern Colorado. 



Various estimates have been made as to the amount of this arid 

 land. Its various portions present great variations in the amount of 

 vegetation, and especially of the native grasses which they present, 

 and consequently they vary accordingly in their capability for the 

 support of cattle and sheep, for which purpose it was thought this 

 land was alone adapted. 



There is reason to believe that the unproductive character of a part 

 of this region, notably that of Western Nebraska, Western Kansas, 

 and Eastern Colorado, has been greatly exaggerated, and those sec- 

 tions have recently been the seat of a great rush of immigration, by 

 which the larger portion of the district will be absorbed by home- 

 stead and pre-emption claims for the purpose of general cultivation. 

 The efforts at agriculture which have been made in this region dur- 

 ing the past two or three years have been attended with considerable 

 success, possibly owing to favorable seasons, but the most sanguine 

 exjDectations are entertained by the settlers. 



Sufficient time has not elapsed to determine what may be the ulti- 

 mate success of general agriculture, but there can be no doubt that 

 the country is eminently adapted to pastoral purposes, and that the 



