places as well as in grain and hay fields. Its abundance in Montana in the 

 early days is evidenced by Dr. Vasey, 1 who, in 1884, stated, 



Hordeum jubatum, or foxtail grass, is common on the low lands (of Montana) especially 

 where there is moisture. It is looked upon as one of the worst of weeds. Its presence 

 Avith other grasses destroys their value entirely for hay. 



The species is still common in Montana, although not so evident on the range 

 as in grain and hay fields, probably because these fields now occupy the sites 

 naturally suited to this grass. 



While young, foxtail barley is palatable to livestock and, up to the time 

 when heads develop, is fair to fairly good forage for cattle and horses and 

 fair for sheep. After the heads form the plants are not grazed. When dry, 

 even though immature, the bearded heads are very troublesome because they 

 break apart readily, sections of the rachis remaining as sharp points on the 

 spikelets which, with the stiff awns, become imbedded in the mouth tissues 

 and sometimes in the nostrils and eyes of livestock and game animals that 

 consume such forage. In California, foxtail barley is grazed slightly by deer, 

 while the blades are young and tender. In Montana and in the Jackson Hole 

 country of Wyoming the species is grazed readily by elk as winter forage 

 and, when fed as hay, the foliage may be entirely consumed in spite of the 

 awns. Such utilization, however, may reflect the near-starvation conditions 

 which often prevail on those elk ranges. 



Unquestionably foxtail barley is very harmful to all kinds of grazing ani- 

 mals, particularly to elk, deer, and antelope when the seed heads have dried. 

 Rush, 2 3 for example, reports that when such game animals eat the seed heads 

 the "awns stick into the soft tissues of the mouth" and, subsequently, continue 

 to work into the tissues. Infection in these injuries causes necrotic sores and 

 a disease known as necrotic stomatitis or calf diphtheria, which, in turn, 

 finally attacks the bones and causes an abnormal enlargement (exostosis) 

 as well as lumpy jaw and pus-forming abscesses. 



Mr. O. ,T. Murie diagnosed necrotic stomatitis in 70 of 193 post-mortems of 

 elk in the Jackson Hole country during the winter of 1928-29 and ascribed 

 the mechanical injury which caused the disease to the awns of foxtail barley. 3 

 Hay containing an appreciable amount of the dry heads of this species is 

 also very injurious to horses, especially when manger-fed, as the animals have 

 little chance to avoid eating the foxtail heads. The sharp points and stiff 

 awns become imbedded in their gums or collect between their lips and gums, 

 causing foul-smelling abscesses. Cattle are injured to a less extent than 

 horses, as the mucous membrane of their mouths is thicker and less easily 

 penetrated by the awns and sharp head parts of this grass. Experienced sheep- 

 men avoid foxtail-infested hay because the dry heads quickly cause sore mouths. 

 Some stockmen maintain that hay infested with foxtail barley can be fed 

 without danger during wet weather when the awns are somewhat softened by 

 moisture. Furthermore, they assert that if such hay is fed liberally so that 

 livestock are not forced to eat the foxtail barley heads, little injury will nor- 

 mally result even in dry weather. However, Fleming and Peterson 4 advise 

 that lambing ewes should not be fed "foxtail" hay. 



Once established, foxtail barley is difficult to eradicate. It is a prolific seeder, 

 and the heads or their parts with the seed are blown about by the wind and 

 transported in the hair of grazing animals ; thus the species quickly invades all 

 suitable areas. Seeding plowable meadows and pastures, after thorough culti- 

 vation, to a grass which will quickly form a dense stand should be effective 

 in reducing the amount of foxtail barley. On the range, where cultivation is 

 seldom practical, conservative grazing which will facilitate the reestablishment 

 of the native, palatable perennial grasses is probably the most feasible method 

 of reducing the "foxtail." Artificial reseeding of badly depleted areas to aggres- 

 sive but palatable grasses may be necessary to expedite range improvement. 



G THE AGRICULTUHAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 W> M- NORT HERN YELLOWSTONE ELK STUDY. 131 pf>., illuS. MisSOUla, Mont. 



. 



1930 DSH> W ' M ' FOXTAIL GRAS S is KILLING ELK. Mont. Wild Life 3(7) : 10-11, illus. 



* FLEMING^ C. B., and PETERSON, N. F. DON'T FEED FOX-TAIL HAY TO LAMBING EWES' 

 Nev. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 97, 18 pp., illus. 1919. 



