54 FORAGE CONDITIONS ON NORTHERN BORDER OF GREAT BASIN. 



Bunch blue grass (Poa laevigata). — A smooth, erect, light-colored grass, related 

 to the Kentucky blue grass. It inhabits the drier, nonalkaline bottoms, and is a very 

 excellent species for both hay and pasture. The meadows of it which were seen were 

 very uneven, due no doubt, in a large measure, to overpasturage. Many small areas on 

 the bottoms, however, would cut one to one and a half tons per acre. The species is 

 a very promising one for cultivation and the seed is easily gathered. The quality of 

 both the hay and the pasturage furnished by it is excellent. The hay is much 

 superior to that furnished by wild wheat (Elymus triticoides) , but the yield is much 

 smaller. 



Nevada blue grass (Poa nevadensis) . — This handsome, bunch, glaucus blue grass 

 is confined mainly to the mountains in this region. Occasionally a little of it may 

 be found on the lowlands, but the quantity here is very small. It furnishes much 

 pasture on the broad, gentle slopes in Steins Mountains, as well as on the rocky, 

 steep canyon sides. 



Wood meadow grass (Poa nemoralis). — A common species in some mountains, but 

 of little importance compared with the Rocky Mountain region. 



Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis). — Forms of this valuable pasture and hay 

 grass are common throughout the region from the lowlands to the high mountains. 

 It was of greatest importance in the spur of the Blue Mountains, north of Burns, 

 Oreg., where with Prairie June grass (Koleria cristata) and Nevada blue grass (Poa 

 nevadensis) it formed in pine clearings in many places the entire grass forage. These 

 three species were found here in about equal quantities. 



Wheeler's blue grass (Poa ivheeleri). — This species is often found with Buck- 

 ley's blue grass in the lower mountain canyons and ravines. It furnishes excellent 

 feed for both cattle and sheep. It was especially abundant in Steins Mountains on 

 the sides of Teger and Blitzen gorges. 



Beard grass (Polypogon monspeliensis) . — Although an annual, this is a very impor- 

 tant species on all lowlands. It furnishes a large amount of pasture and enters into 

 the composition of the hay to a considerable extent. In some meadows examined it 

 formed a fourth of the crop. The green feed is relished by stock and the hay when 

 cut early is of good quality, though rather light. PI. XVI, fig. 2, shows Arizona- 

 grown plants of this species.. 



Alkali grasses (Puccinellia airoides and P. lemmoni). — These species are not so 

 abundant and important in this region as one would expect. They were found all 

 through the region, but never in such quantities as along the Yellowstone River or in 

 the Flathead Valley in Montana. The best growth seen was near Andrews, Oreg. 



Sprangle top (Scolochloa festucacea) . — This tall, bushy-topped, broad-leaved grass 

 was not seen except on the Malheur Lake bottoms, where it forms tremendous quan- 

 tities of hay. It is a common species in low, wet meadows from Iowa to Nebraska 

 northward, but it is not usually considered of much value as a hay grass. In certain 

 places, however, in the general depression of the low, swampy ground in eastern 

 South Dakota, especially in the vicinity of Clark, large quantities of hay are yielded 

 by it in dry seasons. It is rather astonishing that it should be found again in this 

 place in such large quantities. Quite extensive areas of it were seen which would 

 yield three tons of hay per acre. PI. XV, fig. 1, shows a typical area fully headed 

 out. In the foreground it is lodged and mixed with bur-reed (Sparganum eury- 

 carpum). Its habits of growth are similar to many of the valuable grasses of this and 

 the Plains region, inasmuch as it develops by creeping rootstocks, and very often 

 does not head out at all. This occurs in dry years and in the drier portions of the 

 meadows in wet years. We drove through a half-mile stretch of it in one place on 

 the Island ranch where the stand was fairly thick, 2 to 3 feet high and yielding 2 or 

 3 tons of hay per acre of very fair quality, although rather coarse and light. The 

 hay being harvested as shown in PL VIII, fig. 2, is composed almost entirely of 

 this grass and prairie bulrush (Scirpus campestris). 



