' THE CHAPARRAL. 31 



land ranges could be increased. As these ranges are used for fall and 

 early winter feeding, the grasses that will be of greatest benefit in such 

 situations will be those that make the earliest winter growth. 



Among the grasses which make the earliest winter growth at 

 Berkeley the following are recommended for trial: Orchard-grass 

 (Dactylis glomeraia), tall oat grass (Arrhenatlierum elatius), wood 

 meadow grass (Poa nemoralis), reed fescue (Festuca arundinacea) . 



It must be borne in mind, however, that we can not expect to make 

 first-class pastures out of timbered lands. It is impossible to success- 

 fully combine good timber cultures and good pastures, for the objects 

 and needs of the two are diametrically opposed, and what will benefit 

 the one may injure the other. The timber and brush are needed in 

 order to preserve the flow of the springs. All we can hope to do in 

 the way of improvement, therefore, is to somewhat increase the amount 

 of grass produced in the open spaces. 



THE CHAPARRAL. 



Chaparral is the Spanish word for a thicket of low shrubs, and was 

 used by the Spanish-Calif ornians to designate the thickets of scrub- 

 oak (Quercus dumosa) which are so noticeable a feature of rocky 

 ridges in this region. It is now applied promiscuously to any low, 

 dense brush of prickly or rigid shrubs growing in similar situations, 

 as well as to the individual species of which the mass is composed. 

 In these senses the words chaparral and chamisal are often used 

 interchangeably; chamisal strictly means, however, a stretch of 

 burned over chaparral, from the Spanish chamizo, a piece of half- 

 burnt wood. The term is now generally restricted to the "chamise" 

 bush ( A denostoma fasciculatum ) . 



So local and strikingly characteristic are these chaparral areas that 

 they have become landmarks, the word chamisal, sometimes cor- 

 rupted into chemisal, chemise, or chimese, being adopted as a local 

 name. Thus, we find on the map of Humboldt County a "Chemisal 

 Creek" and "Chimese Ridge" in the vicinity of Harris, and a "Che- 

 mise Mountain," near Shelter Cove. 



As before stated, the chaparral covers dry, stony ground, where the 

 soil appears to be too scant and poor to support a generous herbace- 

 ous vegetation. It is usually composed of such shrubs as Adenostoma 

 fasciculatum, Ceanothus cuneatus, Quercus dumosa, Cercocarpus 

 sp. (mountain mahogany), species of Arctostaphylos (manzanita), 

 Garry a fremonti, Eriodictyon californicum (Yerba santa), etc., the 

 component species varying with the locality, and frequently one or 

 other being so prevalent over a large area as to give it specific 

 individuality. 



The grasses usually met with in these arid, rocky spots are tufted 

 in their habit of growth, and consequently come under the common 

 category of "bunch grass." The species are few in number. Melica 



