42 RANGE IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRAL TEXAS. 
began, the curly mesquite held its own very much better than the 
Bermuda, and in midsummer clearly demonstrated its great supe- 
riority as a drought-resisting grass. As it is easily propagated from 
the roots, which, cut into bits, may be harrowed or heeled in the 
ground after the early spring rains, it is justly regarded as one of the | 
best of all the native grasses of the section for use in renovating the 
ranges. As it never grows tall 
enough to be cut, it is suitable 
only for pasture. (See fig. 3.) 
EVERLASTING Grass (Eriochloa 
punctata). 
This is the native grass that was 
the main reliance of cattlemen for 
hay in the early history of central 
Texas as astock country. When 
old Fort Griffin, in Shackleford 
County, was a United States Army 
post, this grass was about all that 
the large number of cavalry and 
other horses there had to rely on 
for winter ‘* roughness.” In the 
seventies and eighties it grew all 
over the section from 2 to 4 feet 
high, in quantities sufficient to en- 
able a great deal of an excellent 
quality of hay to be secured. Now 
it isa rare grass in the pastures, 
largely due to the fact that it will 
not flourish under such rough 
treatment as the ranges of the sec- 
tion received while ‘free grass” 
was the rule. In pastures not 
overstocked, along the fence rows, 
and at the ends of the rows in cultivated fields, it is now to be found in 
most of the central Texas counties, and always, under such conditions, 
the most permanent and promising grass in sight. As it makes a 
vigorous growth under favorable circumstances, and furnishes an 
abundant yield of a comparatively soft and very nutritious hay, it 
should be cultivated by stockmen and farmers. Seeds of this grass 
sufficient to sow a good plot of ground in the grass garden were saved, 
and in 1899 an excellent stand was secured that grew and developed 
vigorously and held its own remarkably well during the long dry spells 
of 1899 and 1900. 
Fig. 3.—Curly mesquite. 
