14 
product. There are several different grasses, known under the names 
of blue-stem, blue-joint, and blue grass, all of which are different from 
the blue-grass of the East. 
One of these, sometimes called Colorado blue-stem, is botanically 
called Agropyrum glaucum. It has a stiff, rigid stem aud leaves, which 
are usually of a bluish-green color. Ou hard, dry soil its growth is low 
and sparse, only here and there a scattered stalk with a flower-spike 
somewhat like a starved, beardless head of wheat, but in low, moist 
ground it often grows with great vigor 2 or 3 feet high, and wherever 
it is abundant it is considered valuable for hay, and is a common resort 
for cattle in winter. It is most common near the mountains, but extends 
into Western Kansas and Nebraska. Another grass, frequently called 
the blue-stem, or blue-joint, of Kansas, is botanically called Andropogon 
provinciaUs. On the prairies of Eastern Kansas and Nebraska this is a 
conspicuous and well-known grass, very highly esteemed fur hay. It 
is said that it is gradually crowding out the gramma and buffalo 
grasses. It is found, in some localities, quite to the base of the mount- 
ains, and is every where esteemed a good grass for hay. It grows 
erect, frequently to the height of 5 or 6 feet. The leaves are long and 
abundant ; the stem has frequently a bluish color, and has at the top 
a cluster of from 3 to 5 flower spikes, each being 2 or 3 iuches long, and 
generally purplish in color. 
There is another species much resembling this, which is botanically 
called Andropogon Eallii, and it prevails in very sandy soil; its roots 
are thick and penetrate deeply in the soil, keeping it fresh and vigorous 
in the driest time. This is' sometimes called sand-grass, and it is said, 
to be greatly sought for by cattle in winter. It grows from 3 to 5 feet 
high ; the flower spikes when developed are hairy, and have a white or 
yellowish color, and the leaves and stem are commonly a light bluish- 
green color. 
Another species of this family, called Andropogon scoparius, grows in 
dense tufts or bunches, generally on thin soil, or on bluffs and hills, but 
frequently also on bottom land, and is called bunch-grass. Apparently 
the same species in a somewhat different variety grows in the East, and 
is one of the so-called sedge-grasses. It is probably what is referred to 
by some Western writers as sage-grass. It is frequently cut for hay, 
and serves a good purpose as winter forage. 
Another important and valuable grass occurring in low or moist 
ground, usually near streams, is Panicum virgatum, which is sometimes 
called wild red-top, or sometimes switch-grass. It varies in height from 
2 to 4 feet, with long leaves and a wide-spreading panicle of flowers. 
It is abundant on the native prairies in Eastern Kansas, and forms a 
good proportion of the wild grass there cut for hay. It also forms an 
important part of the native meadow-grasses in the valley of the Platte 
as far west as O' Fallon, and in smaller quantities to the base of the 
mountains. 
