398 
THE SAGE PLAINS OF OREGON 
journe}' of about 20 miles along such a stream we passed, b}'- 
actual count, 389 sage bens and brood after brood of ducks, 
while at one point we started uj), at a distance of half a mile, a 
herd of 20 antelojie, which lined-up like Indians and trotted 
away from their drinking place over the rim of the plateau. 
They were doubtless on their way back to their grazing grounds, 
where even at the present stage of civilization no hunter ever 
disturbs them. 
Regret is sometimes exj>ressed that sagebrush, almndant as it 
is, does not furnish a succulent, palatable herbage suited to the 
ap})etites of eattle and horses. If it did, what an inexhaust- 
il)le supply of forage these arid i)lains would sup])ort. But those 
who suggest such a resourceful condition of afiairs have forgot- 
ten that the cause of its al^undance and wide distribution is 
undoubtedly the protection against the ravages of grazing ani- 
mals afforded by its disagreeal)le taste, so that it can grow, pro- 
duce its seed, ami spread almost unchecked. Had it been a 
grazing plant, suited to the apj)etite of antelope and deer, and 
later to that of sheep, horses, and cattle, it would long since 
have been exhausted and the Oregon plains have become as bare 
of sage brush as some of the Wyoming plains are bare of grass, 
.V few other shrubs form an inconsiderable part of the woody 
vegetation, but these and the sage brush make up by no means 
all the plant life of the country. As the snow melts away in 
the spring, the well moistened soil between the Artemisia bushes 
l)ecomes covered with the seedlings of innumerable annuals. 
For a few weeks the ground is carpeted with these plants, which 
flower in the greatest profusion, but after about two months they 
ripen their seeds, dry up, die, and disappear. Growing with these 
annuals is another type of plants, tuberous-rooted perennials, 
whicb have stored u[) during the preceding year’s growth a large 
amount of nourishment. They therefore bloom at the first break 
of spring, go tb rough a brief jieriod of rapid growth, lasting usually 
a little longer than that of the annuals, and then the newly 
formed bulbs, well ])rotected by impervious coats against the 
desiccating influences of a long, dry summer, carry over a full 
supply of plant food for the next spring’s blooming. 
. At some points in the higher altitudes of the sage plains, in 
level or slightly depressed areas which catch and retain for a 
time some of the water from the melting snows in spring, a dense 
meadow of fine gra.sses, interspersed with the greatest profusion 
of brilliantly colored flowers, is formed, and as one of the most 
