136 



A MANUAL OF FARM GRASSES 



United States is being steadily encroached 

 upon by farms as distinguished from 

 ranches. 



The grazing lands of the West may be 

 roughly divided into five regions, 

 plains, valleys, deserts, humid for- 

 ests, and mountain meadows. 



PLAINS 



The open treeless region known 

 as the Great Plains extends in the 

 United States from the Canadian 

 border to Mexico and from the 

 Rocky Mountains to 

 about the 96th meridian. 

 A large proportion of 

 this is still devoted to 

 grazing. In this region 

 grasses form so large a 

 part of the grazing that 

 the other plants may 

 be disregarded. Over a 

 considerable portion of 

 Texas the meskit tree 

 ( Prosopis ju lift or a) 

 forms an important 

 source of forage, but this 

 region probably should 

 be classified as forest 

 rather than as plain. 

 The grasses of the plains 



31. Buffalo Grass. Showing a 

 staminate plant at left, with two 

 spikes of flowers; a pistillate plant 

 at right, with two clusters of seed- 

 bearing flowers. Seed is produced 

 only by the second kind of flowers. 



