74 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



From Putnam County, Arizona, we have the following : 

 Thih country contains millions of acres of land that seems adapted to no other 

 earthly purpose than grazing, but the grass is so thin upon the ground that it takes 

 many acres to maintain one cow, and cattle must be distributed very thinly along 

 the water-fronts in order to have them thrive, because when feed is scarce tliey are 

 obliged to travel too far. and are, consequently, poor in flesh and stunted in growth, 

 whereas if all the land was well seeded to thrifty grass the same land could maintain 

 three times as many cattle. We want to know if there are not some kinds of 

 imported grasses that are good for our purpose, and that will grow in our climate, 

 between 3"^° and 35' north latitude on the Pacific Slope. There is in this latitude rain 

 only twice a year. The land is fertile, but lacks tlie jjroper kinds of gi'ass to furnish 

 sufficient pasturage. Are there not some kinds which might be imported from 

 Arabia, or some country with a similar climate, which would be an improvement? 



There are millions of acres of arid lands, of the character of the 

 above described, for which the great need is the establishment of ex- 

 periment stations in the arid districts, where many kinds of grasses 

 and forage plants could be thoroughly tested on a large scale and 

 under skillful and intelligent managers. Such experimentation 

 would, undoubtedly, result in important practical benefits. 



A correspondent, of Taylor County, Texas, writes as follows : 



I have a body of land lying north of Fort Worth, in the black, sandy soil, also 

 another in the Panhandle country, along the Upper Red River, among the red 

 lands, which I am improving for agricultural and stock-raismg purposes. I deshe 

 to obtain mformation as to what are, or would be. the best gi-asses for these regions, 

 as the short, curlv mesquite and sedge-gi-asses wliich abound, while being very nu- 

 tritious are not of sufficient growth, and are not suitable for hay-making, nor will 

 they support the number of stock to the acre that the soil would warrant. 



Such inquiries as the above can only be partially answered at the 

 present time for the want of proper investigations and experiments. 

 By devoting a portion of the land to the cultivation of summer crops 

 of such grasses as Hungarian, Texas millet, and sorghum it could be 

 made safe to keep twice the quantity of stock. At the same time ex- 

 periments should be made with permanent grasses, such as Johnson 

 grass, Texas blue-grass, orchard-grass, and any others that give 

 promise of utility, including even some of the thriftier and more pro- 

 ductive native grasses of the region, as blue-joint and some of the 

 Fanicums. 



From Savannah, Ga., we have the following: 



In vour " Descriptive Catalogue of the Grasses of the United States," page 11, it is 

 stated that Panicum maximum (Guinea-grass), seldom matures seed rii this country, 

 and is usually propagated by division of the roots, and that it is too tender to be cul- 

 tivated, except in the very warmest portions of our country. Doctor Phares, in liis 

 valuable book of grasses, states that whenever it has had proper care the crop is 

 enormous, and in Jamaica, where it is cultivated extensively, it is held next to sugar 

 in value of crop, and that the roots are easily killed by frost and must be protected 

 in winter. For the information of your Department I beg to state that specimens 

 of this grass have been growing in a garden here for several years: that the roots are 

 uninjured by our frosts, and that the plants have borne seeds freely, and have been 

 extensively propagated from these seeds. 



Probably this valuable grass will prove hardy in the southern por- 

 tion of the Gulf States and throughout Florida, 



A correspondent from Missouri sends a specimen of plant, and says: 



This morning a gentleman brought me a sample of a plant he found in a garden 

 here that he suspects to be the Canada thistle. I inclose it for your mspection. We 

 have considerable excitement about the Canada thistle, as many farmers are afraid 

 it will get introduced. We have a law against allowing it to grow, and I am the 

 prosecuting attorney, and wish to have information in regard to it. 



In this case the plant sent was what is called sow-thistle, an annual 

 spiny-leaved plant, but easily killed, and not inclined to spread. 



