HAY CEOPS. 35 



rods in diameter, or, as is usually the case with the yellow top, in nar- 

 row fringes along the lower areas. Large quantities of hay consisting 

 of almost pure sprangle top and prairie bulrush were being harvested 

 on the ranch when we were there. 



The cultivated forage plants are few in number. As in all the arid 

 West where irrigation is practiced, alfalfa is found to be by far the 

 most profitable crop, and it seems especially well adapted to the only 

 tillable soils of the region, namely, the lower sagebrush areas. When- 

 ever water is available for irrigation the sagebrush lands invariably 

 raise good crops of this important forage plant. It is in the northern 

 portion of the region covered that it is raised most extensively and 

 profitably. One field near Ontario, Oreg., was pointed out to us as 

 having raised last year 10 tons per acre in three cuttings. It was an 

 unusually fine field, and care had been taken to get a good even stand. 

 (See PL XIV, fig. 1.) Judging from the comparative appearance of 

 other fields in the vicinity, 6 tons per acre would be a fair average 

 for the region. Farther south, where water is less abundant and only 

 two cuttings are made, 3 or 4 tons would be a good average. Here con- 

 siderable growth occurs in the fall after the second cutting is made, 

 but this is usually pastured off by cattle which are turned into the 

 fields during the winter. In this way the alfalfa fields, as well as the 

 native hay meadows, furnish both hay and winter pasture. 



Redtop (Agrostis alba) is widely introduced in the basins of Nevada 

 and Oregon and often furnishes large quantities of hay and pasture on 

 the low, moist bottoms. It is of more importance from the Alvord 

 Desert region north than it is farther south. The first place where we 

 saw a good stand of it was on the Divine ranch. 



Timothy is being more widely introduced in recent years and is said 

 to withstand the alkalinity of the soil better than any other forage 

 plant known to the ranchers of the region. Instances were cited to us 

 of successful stands having been obtained on soil which produced 

 nothing but greasewood. In some places on the Divine ranch there 

 were fine crops of it. In one field the hay consisted of about equal 

 quantities of timothy, redtop, and native clover, a most excellent com- 

 bination for a good quality of hay. Mr. Divine reported that the 

 clover had "come in" of its own accord, and that the redtop in this 

 particular field was the result of having fed redtop ha} r which was 

 hauled in from a small ranch established in early days farther down 

 the valley. 



METHODS OF HANDLING HAY. 



The methods of handling ha\^ crops are certainly unique and in 

 thorough keeping with the extensiveness of all the operations con- 

 nected with stock raising in the region. The many appliances used 

 permit of handling the crop to the best advantage and with the least 



