PASTUEE LANDS. 317 



SECTION V. 



GRAZING. 



The grazing in the Black Hills is most excellent. Nine-tenths of the 

 whole area is covered by a thick growth of the finest wild grasses. It con- 

 stitutes the great future wealth of this region, and its value can hardly be 

 overestimated. 



Every one who visited the Hills the past season was enthusiastic over 

 the luxuriance of the grass, which in the brightest green spreads over the 

 surface of the parks, hill-sides, and valleys, adding greatly to the beauty of 

 the scenery. 



Cavalry officers, herders, scouts, and miners all were united in praise 

 of the grazing. " California Joe " said of the valley of Spring Creek: 

 "There's gold from the grass roots down, but there's more gold from the 

 grass roots u/p." And no matter how rich the gold-placers in the Black 

 Hills may prove to be, the great business in this region in the future will 

 be stock-raising' and dairy-fanning. 



Owing to the heavy dews at night during the growing season, to the 

 frequent thunder showers, and the occurrence of occasional long and heavy 

 rains, the grass grows all over the Black Hills wherever it can obtain a 

 particle of soil for its support and a few hours' sunshine during the da)'. 



Even in the clefts of the rocks, the sides of the steep ridges, and in the 

 bottoms of the deep canons, grass is found growing, depending on the 

 scanty soil for its sustenance, and the little sunlight that pierces through 

 the dense branches of the trees or penetrates for a short time the depths of 

 the gorge. . 



Unlike the grass on the plains, which springs up in May and by July 

 has turned yellow and cured to a natural hay, the grass in the Black Hills, 

 stimulated by the abundance of moisture, continues growing all through 

 the summer, remaining always fresh and green until its growth is checked 

 by the frosts of autumn. 



When the expedition reached the Hills, about June 1, spring was well 

 advanced. The trees on the foothills were in full leaf, and the grass had 



