VI PLANTS BAK BRIANS 



is almost entirely confined as yet to the yards and along 

 the right of way of the railroad. The section men have 

 instructions to destroy it, but it was found that few of them 

 were acquainted with it. In its younger states it is soft and 

 succulent, and cattle and horses eat it freely. Humulus 

 lupulus occurs occasionally in the bottoms, and a few plants 

 of Panicum crus-galli were seen at Grand Junction. Cereus 

 phoeniceus and one of the ordinary yellow-flowered prickly 

 pears are common throughout the foothill country. On 

 gravelly hillsides in the Desert Area, Opuntia arborescens is 

 not uncommon. Phleum alpinum and Poa alpina were 

 abundant throughout the alpine region. A few immature 

 plants of Melica bulbosa were seen on Poverty Ridge. Above 

 Ouray a few plants of Artemisia franserioides were observed. 

 The agricultural possibilities of this region as it is de- 

 scribed above would not appear very promising. On the 

 contrary, they are very great. Even the naked adobe soil 

 possesses a wonderful fertility and requires but water to 

 make it yield richly. Even now there are ranches where 

 small ditches could be taken out, all along the Gunnison 

 except in the narrow canons, and likewise along the Un- 

 compahgre. Near Crested Butte (8,878 ft.) the altitude is 

 too great for common garden vegetables and fruits, but the 

 natural meadows in the vicinity, full of native grasses and 

 sedges, have been improved and produce heavily. At Jack's 

 Cabin (about 8,300 ft), fifteen miles below Crested Butte one 

 may see beautiful fields of alfalfa and timothy, and here are 

 raised radish and lettuce and other very hardy and quickly 

 maturing garden vegetables. Sargent's (between Gunnison 

 and Marshall Pass) is much like Jack's Cabin in this respect. 

 Doyle's, between Guunison and Sargent, was found to be a 

 very interesting locality on account of the considerable per- 

 centage of alkali in the bottom's soil. The meadows here 



