Some Native Forage Plants of Southern Caltfornia. By. 
when it is ready it cures itself on the ground without the assist- 
ance of man. It furnishes in this way excellent pasturage for 
stock during the dry weather, remaining as well cured hay onthe 
ground. Itis seldom cut and stored ‘up for stock, other plants 
being more easily utilized in this way. 
The seeds are admirably adapted to stocking the ground anew 
each season, screwing themselves into every crack and crevice in 
the sun-baked earth where they patiently await the winter rains. 
Alfilaria is not only one of the more valuable of our wild forage 
plants, but has become one of the most common weeds in our 
gardens; it is not especially troublesome, even when most abun- 
dant, and is much less objectionable than the plants which would 
probably take its place were it absent. Probably the most abun- 
dant and troublesome weed with us is a species of Malva. : 
A friend recalls seeing the alfilaria eee freely on the roofs 
of houses in Switzerland. 
BURR CLOVER. 
Like the alfilaria, this is credited with being a native of South- 
érn Europe, early introduced to this coast. It is now widely 
distributed, and by its so well adapting itselfto our soil, we 
might well overlook its not being strictly American, even if 
we were quite sure that it is not indigencus. 
This plant grows abundantly in many of our fertile valleys and 
canyons, and, like the alfilaria, it makes well cured hay in the 
sun. It produces an abundance of burr-like seed pods, from 
which it receives its name, and itis its seed that makes it a valu- 
able and nutritious hay, especially valuable for horses. Unlike 
the alfilaria, it is frequently cut for hay, and may be considered a 
more valuable forage plant—one that is perhaps worthy of exten- 
sive cultivation. 
THE MESQUITE. 
The mesquite tree (Prosopis juliflora. Dc.), the screw pan 
(P. pubescens, Bth.), and other allied trees are, in a sense, the 
most valuable forage plants indigenous to the arid regions of the 
west, producing as they do an abundance of fruit of great nu- 
tritive value both for man and for his dependents, while even the 
foliage for browsing has often proved valuable to the traveler. 
The ripe pods of the mesquite bean are light straw color, thick 
and mealy, pleasantly pungent and sweet. Horses and mules, 
and probably other stock, eat them with avidity and grow fat 
on this diet without other forage, and wild animals appreciate 
their value, even the coyote, failing of a rabbit, not despising a 
meal of them. 
Among the Indians, who occupy the borders of the Colorado 
Desert, the pods of the mesquite tree form a no small nor unim- 
portant part of their harvest. They collect in pods in great 
quantities, and grinding them into a coarse meal, sifting out and 
