304 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



says: "It was a magaificent legacy to the rancher and the 

 farmer. To the one it promised food for a million cattle; to 

 the other it proved the golden possibilities of a soil that would 

 bring fourth bountiful harvests. " 



H. L. Bently,* speaking of the conditions of speculation and 

 overstocking in Texas when the large pastural belt of the cen- 

 tral part of that state was opened by the Texas & Pacific R. 

 R., says: " Range rights, herds of cattle and flocks of sheep 

 changed hands at fabulous prices. Men of every rank were 

 eager to get into the 'cow business.' In a short time every 

 acre of free grass was st:cked beyond its fullest capacity. 

 Thousands of cattle or sheep were crowded on the ranges 

 where half the number was too many. The grasses were 

 entirely consumed; their very roots were trampled into the 

 dust and destroyed. In their eagerness to get something for 

 nothing, speculators did not hesitate at the permanent injury, 

 if not total ruin, of the finest grazing country in America 



From that day to the present little intelligent effort has been 

 ma'ile to improve the pastures and again cover them with the 

 rich vegetation which the soil is capable of supporting. It is 

 not yet too late to remedy the evil, but no time is to be lost. " 



Happily, however, the state of Iowa is in a region with suf- 

 ficient rainfall to insure permanent meadows and pastures of 

 the more improved cultivated grasses. In western "Wisconsin, 

 bordering on the state of Iowa, I have known meadows and 

 pastures of blue gra?s which have been in use more than a 

 quarter of a century and to-day are as productive as when 

 started. These meadows and pastures consist of blue grass, 

 timothy, orchard grass, red top, red and white clovers. One 

 hundred and sixty acres of pasture on my father's farm will 

 support 100 head of cattle during the season. The conditions 

 are somewhat exceptional since it is partially under irrigation. 

 The broken hillside meadows, while not so productive, still are 

 most valuable f jr pasture and hay purposes; they have not 

 deteriorated. These same conditions prevail in Allamakee 

 CDunty where the conditions are very similar. In central Iowa 

 there are meadows which have been in continuous use f c r a 

 long period of time. The college campus, a considerable body 

 of land, has been in sod for twenty-six years. This blue grass 

 sod is as firm as any pasture in central Iowa. The conditions 



*A Report apoQ the Grasses and Forage Plants of Central Texas. Bull. U. S. Dept. 

 Agrl. Dlv. of Agros. 10:9. 



