444 GRASSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



ing, enriching and improving them generally, but this 

 is not true of sheep in certain of the range pastures. 

 The golden hoof in these is turned into an instrument 

 of destruction. To these results, however, there are 

 exceptions for, on some portions of the range, judicious 

 pasturing with sheep is beneficial in degree, rather 

 than harmful. Such are the portions of the range 

 that have a close turf. 



But the injury from too constant and unintermittent 

 grazing has been greater than from too close grazing. 

 Although many of the range grasses are perennial, they 

 are propagated by means of seed only. The very dry 

 portions of the range are ill-adapted to the sustenance 

 of plants that increase chiefly by means of creeping 

 root-stocks. With these the number of the plants is 

 too great for each one to get enough of the scant sup- 

 ply of moisture to sustain them. The fact is sigificant 

 that in the greater portion of the range country, the 

 grasses have fibrous, rather than creeping roots. They 

 multiply by means of seed. The further fact is sig- 

 nificant that these are free producers of seed, thus ac- 

 centuating the fact that the necessity for re-seeding the 

 ranges is ever recurring, where the productive power 

 of the grasses is to be maintained. The grama grasses 

 especially, which are among the best of the range grass- 

 es, are free producers of seed. When the grazing is 

 constant and close, seed production is hindered in pro- 

 portion as these influences are present. Such grazing 

 has done more harm to the range pastures than prob- 

 ably all other influences combined. The question nat 



