GRASS AND HAY 155 



on the pine barrens of Michigan, to turn under for green manure. 

 The air-dried hay contains about 12 per cent of crude protein. 

 Spurrey has recently been rather highly recommended for sowing on 

 the ranges in southern California. It is quite drought resistant and 

 ripens seed very freely, so that if once widely scattered it would 

 probably maintain a foothold for a good many years. It may, in 

 part, fill a like want on the Texas ranges, and deserves a trial to 

 determine whether it will hold its own as well on the uncultivated 

 sod lands as in fields. In the East spurrey is rather common as a 

 weed in fields and gardens. Square-pod Pea (Lotus tetragonolobus) 

 A much-branched ascending annual, closely related to the birdsfoot 

 clover. It is a native of southern Europe, and is there grown for 

 salads and as an ornamental plant. It has been recommended by 

 the California Experiment Station as one of the best winter crops for 

 plowing under in spring as green manure. It yields from 20 to 25 

 tons of green fodder, equivalent to 4 or 5 tons of air-dried hay, and 

 the roots are described as being fairly incrusted with nitrogen 

 tubercles. The plant does not contain as high a percentage of crude 

 protein as alfalfa or the clovers, but it is worth two or three times 

 as much as either as a green manure because of the enormous amount 

 of herbage produced. Sown in January, it will be ready to be plowed 

 under in May. The seed should be thinly broadcasted on freshly 

 plowed land and harrowed in. Star Thistle (Centaurea americiana) 

 This rather common weedy thistle, while considered a pest in 

 eastern fields, has much value as a forage plant in semi-arid regions. 

 The young plants are eaten by stock and are apparently nutritious, 

 as cattle pastured in old fields covered with star thistles fatten rapidly. 

 It is said to increase the flow of milk when fed to cows. Stickseed 

 (Echinospermum redowshii) This and other perennial borages are 

 plentiful in the Rocky Mountain region. Sheep are fond of them ; 

 they supply a goodly amount of forage in early spring. Stolley Vetch 

 (Vicia leavenworthi) An early pasture plant from central Texas, 

 which grows wild on the granite soils and red prairies. This vetch 

 has the same habit and much the appearance of the hairy vetch. 

 It branches from the base, the weak, trailing vines being 2 to S 1 /^ 

 feet long. As many as fifty or sixty stems and branches have been 

 observed from a single root. It has a somewhat local distribution, 

 occurring in central and western Texas. It grows in the creek 

 bottoms and among the underbrush along streams, and where pro- 

 tected from destruction by cattle spreads to the open prairies. Stork's 

 Bill (Geranium carolinianum) An annual in western Washington 

 and Oregon on poor land; during the cooler parts of the year it is 

 often quite plentiful and is an excellent pasture plant. Straw Sedge 

 (Carex straminea) A perennnial sedge, with erect, slender, clus- 

 tered stems, common in the Mississippi Valley. It contributes a 

 large amount of forage in the localities where it is common. Sulla 

 (Hedysarum coronarium) This perennial legume is a native of 

 southern Italy, and was first introduced into cultivation in 1766. 

 It grows best on sandy or clayey soils which arc well drained, or 

 where the ground water is not less than 6 to 10 feet below the surface. 



