MEADOWS AND HAY CROPS. a5 
NATIVE HAY CROPS. 
Wild wheat (Elymus triticotdes).—This is without doubt the most 
important native hay plant of the region. It is known locally as blue- 
joint. Attention was called to this crop last year, but its importance 
was still more impressed upon the writer this year. In early days this 
was the main hay crop in the vicinity of Lovelock, and the name ** Bib 
Meadows” is said to have originated from the extensive areas of hay 
land along the lower course of the Humboldt River where this was 
the principal species. Wild wheat was not met with on our route in 
any great quantities until we approached the Great Basin slope of the 
Blue Mountains, except in one locality on the Okanogan bottoms, 
where there was a large area of the white, or densely glaucous, form, 
which was so abundant at Quinn River Crossing, near Winnemucca, 
last year. At Izee, on the South Fork of the John Day River, it 
appeared to be of considerable importance in both hay and pasture 
land. Its best development, however, appears to be in the stiff, 
rather poorly drained, heavy, nonalkaline soils of the Great Basin bot- 
toms. Here it grows out to the edges of the sagebrush areas, and 
often occurs in small quantities scattered for some distance into these 
areas, so that when they are irrigated, as is often the case, this grass 
springs up and extends with surprising rapidity, being spread, doubt- 
less, to some extent by seeds, but more especially by its creeping root- 
stocks. 
In the Lovelock region at the present time it is considered a weed, 
on account of the persistence with which it remains and spreads in 
cultivated fields. When lands are being brought under control it is 
very common to find areas of this grass scattered through the fields for 
some time, and it is almost invariably found along the irrigation 
ditches, where it serves the useful purpose of holding the embankments. 
Bunch bluegrass (Poa levigata).—Next in importance to the wild 
wheat is the bunch bluegrass, which is sometimes known as wild red- 
top. In the desert basins thousands of tons of this hay are cut each 
year. It grows in somewhat similar situations to the wild wheat, 
though usually on higher ground, and it appears to be able to with- 
standa greater amount of drought. Its habit of early maturing renders 
it of extreme importance in the Great Basin region. Often the only 
moisture which meadows obtain is from spring flooding, and this plant 
appears to be able to mature a fairly good crop of hay under these 
conditions. The most extensive areas of this grass were seen in the 
Catlow and Guano yalleys and in the Deep Hole region on the edge of 
the Smoke Creek desert. 
Giant rye grass (Elymus condensatus).—In all localities visited this 
is an important forage grass, but it is in the Great Basin that it attains 
its greatest importance as a hay crop. If cut when in bloom it makes 
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