10 
broadens and becomes a part of the Missouri Valley, partaking of its 
characterand flora. Farther up the river the valley consists of bottom 
lands, sometimes of considerable extent, forming natural meadows from 
which the bulk of the hay is obtained, and bench lands constituting 
the greater portion of the valley. These bench 
lands are under cultivation, being well irrigated 
by water from the Gallatin and its branches. 
The native grasses of the “benches” are 
principally Blue Grama, Bouteloua oligostachya 
(fig. 5), Poa buckleyana Nash, and the 
Sheep Fescue, Festuca ovina L. In an oat field 
near Manhattan there was fully as much Erio- 
coma cuspidata Nuttall, as oats, and a neglected 
field close by was completely covered with the E 
same grass. A field of potatoes was also over- r 
run withit. In sandy soil similar to that of the 
bench lands there seems to be danger of this 
grass becoming a bad weed. The chief grasses 
of the river bot- , | 
toms were Agrostis 
scabra Willd., Agro- 
pyron pseudorepens S. 
& S., Koeleria cris- 
tata Pers., Agropyron 
caninum R. & S., 
Calamagrostis cana- 
densis Beauv., Cala- 
Fig. 5.—Blue Grama (Boute- magrostis inexpansa 
loua oligostachya). À Gray, Deschamp- 
sia cæspitosa Beauv., Bromus cilatus L., Spar- 
tina gracilis Trin., and Eatonia pennsylvanica 
Gray. 
At Bozeman the valley is under good culti- 
vation and the foothills and mountain sides 
furnish excellent pasturage. The most impor- 
tant grasses in such situations, besides the 
grama and bunch grasses, are Agropyron 
divergens Nees, Trisetum subspicatum P. B., 
Bromus breviaristatus Buckl. (fig. 6), and 
Danthonia californica Boland. The most com- | N 
mon grasses of the mountain meadows and Fie. e, Mountain ; 
in the canyons are Melica subulata Seribn., (Bromus breviaristatus). 
Melica spectabilis Seribn., Melica bulbosa Geyer, Phleum alpinum L., 
— Deschampsia elongata Munro, Festuca jonesii Vasey, Poa nemoralis L., 
and Poa wheeleri Vasey. | 
boue bike cx 
