important as the great feeding ground for the multitudes of cattle which 

 supply the wants of the settled regions of our country as well as the 

 constantly increasing foreign demand. The pasturage of this region 

 consists essentially of native grasses, some of which have acquired a 

 wide reputation for their rich nutritious properties, for their ability to 

 withstand the dry seasons, and for the quality of self-drying or curing, 

 so as to be available for pasturage in the winter. This quality is due 

 probably to the nature of the grasses themselves and to the effect of 

 the arid climate. It is well known that in moist countries, at lower 

 altitudes, the grasses have much succulence; they grow rapidly, and 

 their tissues are soft; a severe frost checks or kills their growth, and 

 chemical changes immediately occur which result in rapid decay 5 

 whereas in the arid climate of the plains the grasses have much less 

 succulence, the foliage being more rigid and dry, and therefore when 

 their growth is arrested by frost the tissues are not engorged with 

 water, the dessicating influence of the climate prevents decay, and the 

 grass is kept on the ground in good condition for winter forage. Gen- 

 eral Benjamin Alvord, of the U. S. Army, in an article on the subject 

 of these winter-cured grasses, states that they only acquire this prop- 

 erty on land which is 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. The region 

 having such an altitude includes, he says, all, nearly up to the timber 

 line, of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and New 

 Mexico; five-sixths of Arizona, one-half of Dakota, one-fourth of Texas, 

 one-fifth of Kansas, and one-sixth each of California, Oregon, and 

 Washington Territory, embracing about one-fourth of the area of the 

 whole United States. 



Many of the grasses of this extensive region are popularly known as 

 " bunch grass," from their habit of growth ; others are known as "rnes- 

 quite" and " grama grass." These consist of many species of different 

 genera, some of them more or less local and sparingly distributed, 

 others having a wide range from Mexico to British America. 



The most important of the " bunch grasses" may be briefly mentioned 

 as follows: Of the genus Stipa there are several species ; Stipa comata 

 and Stipa setigera occur abundantly in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, 

 and California, reaching to Oregon. In Colorado, Kansas, and all the 

 prairie region northward, stretching into British America, Stipa spartea 

 is the principal one of the genus. On the higher plateaus and near the 

 mountains the Stipa viridula is very common, extending from Arizona 

 to Oregon and British America. Somewhat related botanically is Ory- 

 zopsis cuspidate, a very rigid bunch grass, with a fine, handsome panicle 

 of flowers. It is equally wide spread with the preceding. Another 

 widely diffused grass is Deschampsia ccespitosa, varying much in size 

 and thriftiness according to the altitude and amount of moisture where 

 it grows, but always having a light, elegant, spreading panicle of 

 silvery gray flowers. 



One of the most extensively diffused grasses is Kceleria cristata, vary- 



