148 HORDE AE 



which love such a cool habitat ; it is used for pasture or cut 

 for hay. This grass is small and tender, stools very little, is 

 generally less than a foot high with small spike-like brownish- 

 green panicle and short awns. It is never conspicuous nor 

 very abundant and is consequently of Httle economic im- 

 portance in New Mexico. 



Perennial Rye Grass (Loliiun percnne) is an intro- 

 duced species, the seeds of which may be had from the seeds- 

 men. Its value as a meadow grass has not been thoroughly 

 tested l)ut it would seem to be promising for the higher levels, 

 especially in mountain meadows. It has been grown with 

 some success at various places and has occasionally escaped 

 from cultivation, a fact that is quite suggestive. Grown in 

 the lower irrigated valleys it does not do well with muddy 

 water and the summers seem to be too hot for it. But there 

 is little reason to try such grasses in these locations for the 

 land is entirely too valuable for other purposes and alfalfa 

 will produce more hay several times over, in such localities, 

 than any grass. In cool meadows -where the water is clear 

 this grass should be valuable associated with other grasses 

 that delight in such climatic conditions. 



Wild Rye (Elymns canadensis) is a tall coarse grass 

 sometimes 4^^ to 5 feet tall, that grows in the mountains in 

 the timbered and wooded areas. It also frequently occurs along 

 the ditches and fence rows in the irrigated valleys, occasion- 

 ally tolerably abundant. It is a grass that lends itself to 

 cultivation and would grow with Sacaton and JoTinson Grass 

 and form fairly good coarse hay. It would require less irri- 

 gation than alfalfa and with Sacaton could be grown on land 

 that received flood waters only. Mr. J. K. Metcalfe grew 

 it successfully for a number of years at his ranch near Silver 

 City along with the next species (E. robustus) which may 

 be little more than a stouter and more hairy form of this 

 species. 



One of the commonest grasses of the hotter and drier 

 paris of tl"o r'ountairs and tn some extent on the plains is 



