AGRICULTURAL GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS OF THE UNITED 



STATES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Every thoughtful farmer realizes the importance of the production 

 on his land of a good supply of grass for pasturage and hay. He who 

 can produce the greatest yield on a given number of acres will he the 

 most successful man; yet this is a subject which has been, and still is, 

 greatly neglected. 



In the United States we have many climates, many kinds of soil, 

 many geological formations, many degrees of aridity and moisture. It 

 must be apparent that one species of grass can not be equally well 

 adapted to growth in all parts of this extensive territory; yet hardly a 

 dozen species of grasses have been successfully introduced into our 

 agriculture. True it is that this number answers with a tolerable de- 

 gree of satisfaction the wants of quite an extensive portion of the 

 country, chiefly the northern and cooler regions. But it is well known 

 that in other localities the same kinds of grasses do not succeed equally 

 well, and one of the most important problems for those regions is to 

 obtain such kinds as shall be thoroughly adapted to their peculiarities 

 of climate and soil. This is particularly the case in the Southern ami 

 Southwestern States, the arid districts of the West, and in California. 



*The solution of this question is largely a matter of experiment and 

 observation. 



The grasses which we have in cultivation were once wild grasses, and 

 are still such in their native homes. 



The question then arises, can we not select from our wild or native 

 species some kinds which will be adapted to cultivation in those por- 

 tions of the country which are not yet provided with suitable kinds ? 

 Many observations and some experiments in this direction have already 

 been made, and if proper research is continued, and sufficiently thorough 

 experiments are followed up, there is no reason to doubt that proper 

 kinds will be found for successful cultivation in all parts of the count rv. 



The plains lying west of the one hundredth meridian, together with 

 much broken and mountainous interior country, nearly treeless and 

 arid, in New Mexico, western Texas, and Arizona, are unreliable for 

 the purposes of ordinary agriculture, but are becoming, more and more 



