NATIVE FORAGE GRASSES 1 49 



exceptionally favorable seasons to utilize their seed for 

 the production of new growth. Plants introduced from 

 foreign counti'ies can do no better. It is an idle quest 

 to seek for a grass that can be sown by a man on horse- 

 back on a depleted range , to rej uvenate it. The best way 

 to rejuvenate a worn-out or overgrazed range is to give it 

 a rest, taking off the stock and giving the native grasses a 

 chance to recuperate. Astonishingly few grasses have 

 been introduced into successful cultivation, and these 

 nearly all in humid. regions. First there are the Euro- 

 pean grasses introduced in earlier times and adapted to 

 normal humid agricultural conditions. These are tim- 

 othy, redtop, orchard grass, rye grass, bluegrass, the 

 various fescue grasses and several " others of minor im- 

 portance. But as a result of recent experiments and 

 active search for grasses by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and the Experiment Stations, only a 

 few species have been proved of value. These are brome 

 grass, and slender wheat grass to a limited extent, found 

 suited to the northern part of the Great Plains, Sudan 

 grass (and other varieties of sorghum, such as Kafir corn 

 and milo, see page 126) for the southern part of the same 

 region. Natal grass for a limited area in Florida, and 

 possibly Rhodes grass and Napier grass for the south- 

 west. 



In general, considering the grasses of the world, few 

 species meet the qualifications, such as favorable seed 

 habits, for successful cultivation. All the grasses now in 

 cultivation in the United States (with the single excep- 

 tion of slender wheat grass) have been introduced from 



