14 



CIRCULAR 491, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



under observation at the Southern Great Plains Field Station, 

 Woodward, Okla. Among these are several already known to be 

 well adapted to Plains conditions and which show promise of lend- 

 ing themselves to domestication. Preliminary breeding work indi- 

 cates that vast improvements can be effected by rigid selection among 

 the highly variable plant types representative of nearly every species. 



One of the first reports of range-improvement studies in the West 

 was issued in 1895 (6b). Although this early work was discontinued 

 before much was accomplished, the report indicates what may be 

 expected from further studies of native species. 



The importance of improving the native grasses for cultivation 

 was noted by Pammel (b9) from range studies conducted in 1896 in 

 central and northern Colorado. He states (b9, pp. 15-16) : 



If by selection from the native grasses an improved form of Western Wheat- 

 grass or Grama grass can be introduced into the "semi-arid" region which will 

 give greater returns than those already there, the live-stock industry will be 

 put on a better basis and its success assured. 



Figure 4. 



-Results of 2 days' collection of native grass seeds near Chico, Colo., 

 in the last century; reproduced from Shear (62). 



About the time of these studies seeds of native grasses were col- 

 lected in large quantities and tested extensively in the West, A large 

 supply of seed collected during a 2-day period near Chico, Colo., was 

 reported by Shear (62) in 1901 (fig. 4). Nelson (Jfi) reported 

 wonderful results (in 1897) from seeding the ground to some of 

 these, especially the wheatgrasses. Buffum (8) collected seed as 

 early as 1891 and later concluded that native grasses would certainly 

 yield to cultivation. In 1893 he reported that seeds of western 

 wheatgrass, grama, and switchgrass already had a market value. 



