GRASSES, GRAINS, AND PLANTS. 551 



in those portions 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 country. 



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 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 essen- 

 tially 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 

 most countries, at lower altitudes, the grasses have much succu- 

 lence ; they grow rapidly, and their tissues are soft ; a severe 

 frost checks or kills their growth, and chemical changes imme- 

 diately occur which result in rapid decay ; 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 desiccating influence of the climate prevents decay, 

 and the grass is kept on the ground in good condition for winter 

 forage. General Benjamin Alvord, of the United States Army, 

 in an article on the subject of these winter-cured grasses, states 

 that they only acquire this property on land which is 3000 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. 



