24 RANGE IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRAL TEXAS. 
of the station section the course of the furrows could be easily traced 
by the eye quite half a mile away. 
TRANSPLANTING GRASS ROOTS. 
During the first two years of the station work every part of the 
section was overrun by prairie dogs, which were not gotten rid of until 
the next year. There were thousands of these pests on the 640 acres 
of the station land. One condition largely due to them was that there 
were considerable areas over the section practically bare of all vege- 
tation. It was believed that such spots could be covered by planting 
in them seeds of several selected native turf-grasses, viz, curly mes- 
quite, needle grass, cotton-top, wild timothy, black, blue, and side- 
oats grama, Canadian rye grass (wild rye), and everlasting grass. The 
seeds were planted just before rains, and in every instance they grew 
well and contributed in a very substantial way to the improvement of 
the range. Those mentioned are but a few of the many pasture 
grasses (all natives of central Texas and to be found in practically 
every one of its counties) which may be used to excellent advantage 
in that way, and it is recommended that farmers and stockmen make 
similar experiments with the view to the improvement of their 
pastures. 
BALING LEGUMES AND FODDER PLANTS. 
In all the semiarid regions of the United States, including central 
Texas, it is practically possible to grow every year satisfactory crops 
of several varieties of sorghum. There is little reason, therefore, for 
stockmen and farmers throughout those regions not making ample 
provision for feeding their live stock, even during the drought years, 
when their grass pastures fall short or fail entirely. It isa well-known 
fact, however, that the methods of curing and preserving sorghum 
hay have not heretofore proven entirely satisfactory. Silos have not 
been found sufficiently cheap to commend themselves, and of the stock- 
men who have tried them but few have secured good results. Shock- 
ing and ricking the fodder has not been at all satisfactory, for the 
reason that the juices have dried up, leaving the stalks dry and harsh 
and the fodder light and with little food value, while outside of the — 
drier sections it has been found impracticable to save such hay at all, 
for the reason that in sweating, inevitable as a part of the curing pro- 
cess, the hay molds and becomes rotten and worthless. In the latter 
instance the trouble is due to too much moisture; in the former to 
the fact that the air is not moist enough. 
It was believed that the sorghums, and many of the other succulent 
forage plants outside of the grasses, might be successfully baled, and 
in that way preserved, with their natural jucies, for food purposes. 
Notwithstanding the drought, vigorous growths of several varieties of 
