EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF GRAZING. 37 



tender, juicy, and sweet, and it also has a very pleasant odor, but 

 by fall it has become harsh and woody and lost its sweetness and 

 is then passed by for something better. 



Western needle grass is eaten readily by cattle early in the season 

 up to the time the needles form and become sharp. For a period of 

 two to three weeks it is avoided by stock, but when the needles drop 

 it is again taken well, even after it has become dried. This grass 

 starts growth early in the spring, before most other grasses. It 

 also grows late in the fall and produces some green feed after most 

 of the other grasses have ceased growth for the season. 



Prairie June-grass is one of the earliest grasses to start growth in 

 the spring and is the earliest one to reach maturity. It furnishes 

 luxuriant green feed during late May and early June which is 

 readily eaten by the cattle. It soon dries up, however, and the 

 foliage is almost entirely lost to cattle in areas that are not grazed 

 early in the season. 



Tall grama grass produces feed early in the season that is readily 

 eaten by stock. It makes a much taller growth than the blue grama. 

 In the early part of the season the foliage is tender and sweet, but 

 later the stems become tough and woody. 



Little bluestem seems to be more or less avoided by cattle. This 

 is partly because the old stems are stiff and protect the young growth 

 in the spring. On areas where this grass has been grazed down by 

 cattle they do not hesitate about grazing the same area the next 

 season while the growth is tender. 



The other grasses are of minor value for grazing, from the stand- 

 point of their palatability. They are all somewhat tough and are 

 therefore avoided. Wire-grass (Aristida) is the last grass that the 

 cattle will take when forced to graze a short range. Bunches of this 

 grass are often found scattered over the pasture when everything 

 else around them has been eaten. When the cattle start to eat the 

 bunches of this grass it is a good indication that they are out of 

 other feed. The awns of this grass are very sharp, and they do not 

 readily drop, as in the case of species of Stipa. 



The two species of Carex are high in palatability for cattle early 

 in the season and are estimated at 100 per cent palatable until late 

 June. As the summer advances their palatability decreases to prac- 

 tically nothing for Carex filifolia (nigger wool) by the close of the 

 season. This species becomes dry and tough with age. C. heliophila 

 (western prairie sedge) 30 remains palatable longer and is not greatly 

 avoided by the cattle at the close of the season. 



The palatability for cattle of the other plants is low; it is esti- 

 mated at not more than 30 to 40 per cent. It is true that the cattle 

 eat most of these plants when other feed is scarce, but of their own 

 choice they eat only a small percentage. The plant that they avoid 

 most of all is Artemisia frigida. ' They will not eat this at any time 

 until they are forced to do so. As already mentioned, in the 30-acre 

 pasture, where this plant has become coarser than in the other 

 pastures, the cattle reject it until the last and lose weight while a 

 considerable portion of it is still untouched. None of the other 

 species are particularly avoided. The low palatability of these 



30 This name has been applied locally to this species, as the plant is very common, and 

 it is often desirable to refer to it under a popular name. 



