530 PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885, 



saline prairies of that stream and farther west and north. It purges 

 at first, and may cause severe colic in horses and mules ; cattle are but 

 slightly affected, and seem to relish it; it probably affords a useful 

 change of diet. 



S. Wrightii, the Maton of the Mexicans, is a tall, coarse grass, grow 

 ing in large clumps over the Eio Grande bottom. During the winter, 

 in the absence of other grazing, Mexican ironies feed on the Maton, and 

 keep in fair condition. As a hardy perennial grass for saline bottoms, 

 subject to flooding and incapable of cultivation, this plant deserves 

 notice. 



Brizopyrum spica^wm (Spike- Grass) ; another salt grass, common on low, 

 marshy places, sometimes affords fair pasturage where hardly any other 

 grass can be found. 



MuJilenhergia Texana; abundant on the low, fertile meadows of the 

 West, adding much to the value of pastures. 



Andropogon saccharoides and scoparius (Beard-Grass) ; widespread and 

 forming notable constituents of the hay cured in Western Texas, but not 

 considered of very good quality. 



Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda-Grass); low and creeping; found mostly 

 along the coast and the Lower Rio Grande ; becoming widely introduced 

 and forming most of the lawns in San Antonio ; able to withstand heat 

 and drought, and therefore well adapted to dry, sandy soils. It is 

 esteemed a good pasture grass. 



Triodia acuminata and var. monstrosa ; T. pulcJiella ; common and wide- 

 spread, but of inferior quality. 



Other grasses highly prized for pasture or hay, and recommended as 

 worthy of propagation on the central and some of the western j^rairies 

 of Texas, are: Texas Millet {Panicum Texaoium), spontaneous in the Colo- 

 rado Valley, where it is much valued, and by many farmers preferred 

 to any other grass; Texas Blue-Grass {Poa arachnifera), native on the 

 prairies of the Brazos and the Trinity ; in appearance very much like 

 its Kentucky congener, and, it is reported, not inferior to it in quality; 

 Johnson-Grass, or Cuba-Grass {Sorghum Halapense), a tall, perennial 

 broom-corn, quick to spread by its root-stocks, very nutritious and pro- 

 ductive, yielding three or four crops a year, but most difficult of eradi- 

 cation; Shrader's Grass, also called Johnson Grass at San Antonio 

 {Bromus unioloides), a very productive winter grass, of good quality, 

 very hardy on dry i^rairie, and rapidly spreading on vacant lands about 

 San Antonio. 



HEDGE PLANTS OF SOUTH AND WESTERN TEXAS. 



In a country where thorny shrubbery abounds we naturally find 

 quite a number of excellent hedge plants, and it is probable that in 

 many places they might advantageously take the place of fences. 

 Hedges can be grown in almost any soil and situation if the right plant 



