82 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
water of the comparatively few streams is supplemented 
by wells, many of which are over 100 feet deep, and by 
dams in the ravines or “draws” that catch and hold the 
run-off from the storm water. The rainfall may come in 
torrential storms and much of the water, instead of being 
absorbed by the soil, runs off in the watercourses and is 
lost to the area. The native vegetation has already been 
described (Par. 23). 
113. Forage crops for the Great Plains—Within 
recent years a large part of the eastern half of this belt 
has been converted into farms, and much of the native 
sod has been placed under cultivation. As modern methods 
for dry-farming come into more general use, and crops 
especially adapted to dry regions are more widely grown, 
more and more of the Great Plains will be utilized for the 
growing of crops. In the western part of the belt irriga- 
tion is practised in many places either by ditches from the 
larger rivers, as the Platte and Arkansas, or from deep 
wells by means of windmills or gasoline engines, or from 
ponds that catch the storm water. The forage crops 
adapted to this region are millet (Par. 56) for the eastern 
half of the belt; brome-grass (Par 31) for the region from 
Nebraska to Montana and Minnesota; and the sorghums 
for the region from Kansas to Texas. Kafir is grown for 
grain and forage. It is usually planted in rows and culti- 
vated. Saccharine sorghums, such as the Amber and 
Orange varieties, are much grown for hay. For this purpose 
they are sown thickly and mowed with a machine. 
The grains grown for the seed over the eastern and 
central portion of the belt furnish also no inconsiderable 
amount of forage. It is a common practice in the winter 
wheat region to pasture the wheat fields in the fall and 
early winter. The most important forage crop is alfalfa. 
