The West- American Scientist. 



Vol. I. 



San Diego, California, December, 1884. 



No. 1 



popular review and record ) p„„ T r eTT Fr > VI ovtht v RV C, R Opr-iiTT \ Entered as second-class mat 

 for the Pacific Coast. S V UBL1SHED i\IONlHL\ BY U. K. URCUTT. \ ter at San Diego Post-office 



'The tinted sea-shell borne away. 

 Far from the ocean's pebbly shore, 

 Still loves to hum the choral lay, 

 The whispering mermaids taught of yoie. 



Our A B C's— Accuracy, Brevity, Com- 

 pleteness. 



e 



In filling ^another long-felt want," we 

 have endeavored to commence as we can 

 hold out, and hope to make this minute 

 priper of increasing interest and practical 

 value. Among prominent contributors are 

 C. C. Pa'rry, M. D..Prof. Geo. R. Klee- 

 berger, Mrs. Z. R. Crojsyn, A. M., and 

 many others well known to San Diegans. 

 Correspondence and such support as we 

 may serm to deserve is respectfully invited 

 from all who may find it of profit or value, 

 or who may be interested in the permanent 

 establishment of a scientific journal on the 

 Pacific Coast. 



Agricultural Grasses. 



(We make the following selections from 

 from a report by Dr. Ceo Vasey, botanist 

 ef the Department of Agriculture, on the 

 Agricultural Grasses of the United States.) 



Wild oats {Avexa fatua), alfilaria {Ero- 

 dium cicutarium), bur-clover Medicago [Den- 

 ticulata), several species of wild clover and 

 -'bunch-grass", in the order named, form 

 the native forage plants of California. 



Accounts from the central and southern 

 counties state that the native bunch-grass, 

 which formerly furnished a nutritious food 

 for a large part of 'the Pacific Slope, has of 

 late years become about extinct, and in 

 some sections the alfilaria, bur-clover, and 

 other forage plants, which were found ©n 

 the uncultivated lands during spring and 

 early summer, are slowly but surely dying 

 out, and their places are being; taken by 

 worthier grasses that nothing will eat 

 green or dry. 



Mr. C. 0. Tucker, of Btllena, attributes 

 this gradual disappearance of the native 

 grasses to the constant and too close past- 

 urage at and prior to the time for matur- 

 ing their seeds, and to a too persistent pas- 

 turage with sheep at other times, causing 

 the ground to become thoroughly trodden 

 and compacted. This has been followed 

 during the last few years by unusually hot 

 and dry summers. He knows of no" sec- 

 tion where the need of useful forage plants 

 is more severely felt than here. 



Except wild oats and bur clover, but lit- 

 tle native grass is cut for hay. The vari- 

 ous grains, as wheat, rye, and barley, cut 

 when in the milk, are principally relied 

 upon for hay in many parts of California. 

 Alfalfa or lucerne (Medkiago sativa), is cul- 

 tivated largely for hay, especially in the 

 southern portion of the State, where by ir- 

 rigation large crops are raised. 



Thus far, but little attention has been 

 given to this subject. The general svstem 

 of farming in vogue here is so different 

 from that of other parts of the country, 

 and so few experiments have been made, 

 that no particular grasses or forage plants 

 can be recommended at this time. Fur- 

 ther experiments and developments will 

 have to determine the important question. 



Three of the above mentioned forage 

 plants are natives of Europe which have 

 become widely naturalized in America. 

 The alfilaria was so early introduced as to 

 be thought native by some. In the moun- 

 tains of Lower California where it was un- 

 known to the inhabitants and unnoticed 

 by visiting botanists ten years ago, it now 

 forms the principal forage plant. Experi- 

 ments made in eastern states can be of lit- 

 tle practical value to California, and the 

 need of agricultural experiment stations in 

 this section is strongly felt by many, and 

 would soon be appreciated by all, in solv- 

 ing not only this, but many other problems. 



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