88 , 



for fodder and pasturage. Besides, there are twenty or. 

 more species of grass between the Pecos and Rio Grande, 

 clothing the valleys and many of the mountains with 

 green, specimens of which we collected for the State col- 

 lec|;ioii, wliich now has more than one hundred species 

 which are natives of the State. 



Higher rents are received for. the grasslands of Liecester- 

 shire, in England, than for other lands cultivated for grain 

 or vegetables in^that region. Even in Texas, in the vicinity 

 of Austin, as high as' from forty to fifty dollars per acre 

 have been received from lands in one year, on which the 

 Colorado grass (Panicum Texanum) was grown. Hay from 

 this same grass is worth at Austin (March, 1876) twenty- 

 five dollars per ton.. There, are millions upon millions of 

 acres of fi^e grass lands in Western Texas now lying idle, 

 -giving no profit to man, Here is undeveloped Avealth, not 

 subject to the uncertainties of mining and many other oc- 

 cupations. 



Last summer, in some of the valleys of Presidio and El 

 Paso counties, the grass was more than six feet high, but 

 only in small patches of one species. 



LUCERNE on ALFALFA, {Medicogo Sativa.) 



There , is another species of Medicago, the lupulina, 

 which is also sometimes called lucerne.' It has yellow 

 flowers. The alfalfa {M. sativa) is more extensively culti- 

 vated in Europe and America. It was introduced by the 

 Spaniards into Mexrco many years ago, and is now 

 largely cultivated in California, Its top roots going down 

 from two to three or more feet render it well adapted to 

 endure drouth. It yields largely of forage, and makes a 

 very good hay. It should not be pastured- close, because 

 it is liable to be destroyed by stock biting oflf the top of its 

 roots. It is cultivated to some extent in El Paso county. 



WILD ANIMALS. — BUFFALO. 



In the winter thousands of them pasture in the upper 

 valleys of the Concho, in Tom" Green county, coming as 

 low down as the Twin mountains. This is the farthest 

 south of their range in Texas. They do not go west of 

 the Pecos, which may partly be owing to the steep banks 

 and swift, deep waters of that streain. 



