14 BOTANY. 



{•■edges as a forage, the stock in the San Luis Valley thrives the year around 

 on them. There, over thousands of acres, these plants grow more than 

 four feet high. 



Irrigation is possible anywhere in this first division, and water (slightly 

 brackish) is usually obtained by digging a few feet. 



The second division is made up of the higher ground, beyond reach 

 of irrigation. The soil and its productions undergo a complete change. 

 Grama,* chico, and greasewood are here the prevailing growth. The soil 

 is unpromising in appearance, yet would, if irrigation were possible, pro- 

 duce fair crops. It will not be likely to be brought under the domain of 

 agriculture for many years. Most propitious seasons are, in the absence 

 of water, absolutely required for this kind of soil. It is, however, the 

 legitimate sheep-walk of the valley. 



The third division are the sand-wastes, where there is no water and 

 almost no vegetation. Even the chico and sage-brush are barely able to 

 live there. I know of no use to which it can be put. There are some 

 sheep occasionally found on it, but they derive most of their subsistence 

 from the adjacent vega, or lowland. 



It is known, also, that in the smaller valleys between spurs of the 

 mountains, bunch-grass is found in considerable quantity. The pinon- 

 groves furnish shelter and a certain amount of grama during the winter 

 for the herds that frequent them. 



From Loma, south, wheat has long been a regular crop. Corn, too, 

 produces small ears with certainty at Conejos. It is not unlikely that they 

 could be increased in size by the introduction and thorough acclimation of 

 better seed. 



* The term Grama, now applied to the various species of Bouteloua in our Southwest, evidently comes 

 from Spain. It is there applied to what we know here as Bermuda, or Scutcli^Grass (Cynodon Daetylon, 

 Pers.), introduced among us from Southern Europe, and also found now widely distributed over the 

 warmer parts of the globe. Gramma is incorrect, and grass, as a suffix, is superfluous. The use of the 

 name was evidently suggested here by the one-sided arrangement of the spikelets, — so like that in Cyno- 

 don Daetylon. 



