USE OF ANNUAL PLANTS IN CALIFORNIA FOOTHILLS 



39 



Table 10. — Average yield at maturity of herbage, by plant group and 

 species , on slopes and swales for the period 1943-45, in three pastures 

 grazed to different degrees from 1936 to 1945 



Plant group 



Yield per grazable acre 

 on slopes under — 



Yield per grazable acre 

 on swales under — 



and species 



Close 

 grazing 

 (pasture 



3) 



Moderate 

 to close 

 grazing 

 (pasture 



1) 



Light 

 grazing 

 (pasture 



2) 



Close 

 grazing 



(pasture 

 3) 



Moderate 

 to close 

 grazing 

 (pasture 



1) 



Light 

 grazing 

 (pasture 



2) 



Grasses : 



Soft chess 



Foxtail fescue _ _ 

 Ripgut brome _ 



Pounds 



391 

 165 



7 



Pounds 



473 



234 



13 



Pounds 



614 



218 

 67 



2 

 35 



48 



Pounds 



90 

 1,053 



Pounds 



117 



887 



Pounds 



143 



657 



Mediterranean 

 barley. 



211 



1,172 



1,9-19 



Wild oat 



6 

 33 



9 

 54 



Other 



94 



55 



96 



Total 



602 



783 



984 



1,448 



2,231 



2,845 



Grasslike plants: 

 Toad rush 









73 

 252 



42 

 112 



27 



Perennial 

 rushes 







1 



415 











Total 







1 



325 



154 



442 











Broadleaved plants: 



Filaree 



Clovers 



Other legumes, _ 

 Smooth cats-ear 

 Windmill pink_ . 

 Pogogyne 



316 

 39 

 83 

 31 

 36 



601 



59 



127 



8 



12 



583 



67 



93 



3 



14 



222 



453 



44 

 16 



321 



565 



30 



6 



246 



488 



36 



1 



109 

 214 



12 

 212 



7 



Other 



139 



145 



141 



328 



Total 



644 



952 



901 



1,058 



1,146 



1,106 



All species 



1,246 



1,735 



1,886 



2,831 



3,531 



4,393 



effects of past grazing use. The effects on yield and composition of the 

 mature vegetation, however, were apparent from measurements made 

 on the sample quadrats protected from current grazing (fig. 3, p. 6). 



Mature herbage yield was lowest under close grazing (table 10), but 

 differences in both productivity of the sites and degree of grazing con- 

 tributed to the differences in yield between pastures. To illustrate, the 

 productivity of swale soil was uniformly high in all pastures, so the low 

 yield of swales in pasture 3, in contrast to the swale yields in pastures 

 1 and 2, was mainly the result of long-continued heavier grazing. The 

 herbage yield there was only 64 percent of the yield under light grazing, 

 which was most favorable to plant growth. On the other hand, the 

 productivity of slope soils varied considerably, and as pasture 3 had more 

 of the poorer sites than pasture 2 (fig. 12, p. 24), only a part of the reduc- 

 tion in yield on slopes was due to differences in degree of grazing. 



