568 AGRICULTURE. 



very well even on sandy upland, and its chief value is in being 

 able to grow on land too poor for other grasses. 



The seed has been in market many years, but it has come 

 into cultivation very slowly, and it is not generally held in very 

 high esteem as an agricultural grass, either in this country or in 

 Europe. Some speak well of it, however, and it has frequently 

 been sent to the Agricultural Department from the South, with 

 strong recommendations for its productiveness. 



Bouteloua Oligostachya (Grama-Grass ; Mesquite-Grass). 

 This is the commonest species on the great plains. It is fre- 

 quently called buffalo-grass, although that name strictly belongs 

 to another plant (BuMoe dacty hides}. On the arid plains of 

 the West it is the principal grass, and is the main reliance for 

 the vast herds of cattle which are raised there. It grows 

 chiefly in small, roundish patches, closely pressed to the ground, 

 the foliage being in a dense, cushion-like mass. The leaves are 

 short, and crowded at the base of the short stems. The flower- 

 ing stalks seldom rise over a foot in height, and bear near the 

 top one or two flower-spikes, each about an inch long, and from 

 one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch wide, standing out at right 

 angles like a small flag floating in the breeze. Where much 

 grazing prevails, however, these flowering stalks are eaten down 

 so much that only the mats of leaves are observable. In bot- 

 tom-lands and low, moist ground it grows more closely, and 

 under favorable circumstances forms a pretty close sod, but 

 even then it is not adapted for mowing, although it is sometimes 

 cut, making a very light crop. Under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances, the product of this grass is small compared with 

 the cultivated grasses. It is undoubtedly highly nutritious. 

 Stock of all kinds are fond of it, and eat it in preference to any 

 grass growing with it. It dries and "cures on the ground, so as 

 to retain its nutritive properties in the winter. No attempt is 

 made by stockmen to feed cattle in the winter ; they are ex- 

 pected to " rustle around," as the phrase is, and find their liv- 

 ing ; and in ordinary winters, as the fall of snow is light, they 

 are enabled to subsist and make a pretty good appearance in the 

 spring ; but in severe winters there are losses of cattle, some- 

 times very heavy ones, from want of feed. 



Buchloe Dacty loides (Buffalo-Grass). This grass is exten- 



