THE AGRICULTURAL GKASSES OF THE UNITED STATES \) 



regarded as one of the most valuable of the forage grasses. It stands 

 tramping better than any other species, and comes in when other species 

 have been tramped out. Its fine, cnily leaves make a dense turf of 

 highly nutiitious herbage. The true buffalo grass {Buchloe) was not 

 seen. 



'''' Kwleria cristata^ called ' June grass,' is very common on the bench 

 lands, disputing possession with Poa tenuifoUa. These two may be said 

 to be the most common grasses of the low districts. 



^'' LHstichUs maritima, or 'salt grass,' is common in alkaline soil 

 along the rivers. It is of little or no value for forage, and considered a 

 great nuisance in agriculture, as its tough and matted roots form a sod 

 that is almost impossible to be brolvcn up. 



" Poa. — All the Poas, wherever growing in abundance, yield much ex- 

 cellent food for stock. On the mountain tops we find Poa alpiua, Poa 

 lara, and Poa ccvsia. Poa Xevadensis is common along mountain streams^ 

 and on the slopes we find I*oa serotina and Poa nemoraJis. Poa pratensis 

 is truly indigenous, and grows abundantly along the streams and rivers. 

 Poa tenvi/oUa, in its various forms, may be called the grass, of the conn- 

 try. It constitutes the chief forage upon the dryest bench lands, where 

 it is called ' bunch grass,' or, on account of its reddish color, ' red-top.' 

 Another local name is ' red-topped buftalo grass.' In dry situations 

 its culms are low and slender, and the foliage is confined to the dense 

 radical tuft, the leaves of the stem being very short and of little ac- 

 count. When growing in rich soil, along streams or on land naturally 

 irrigated, it makes a luxuriant growth of stems and foliage 2 to 6 feet 

 high ; and a field of Poa tenuifoUa in bloom presents as fine an appear- 

 ance as does a field of Kentucky blue grass in the East, and the pro- 

 duce per acre, I should think, nearly the same. This and Koelerl cristata 

 are usually associated, and both bloom about the same time, June 15 

 to 30. As fine a field of natural grasses as I saw in Montana contained 

 Poa tenuifo'ia^ Ka'eria cristata, Stipa viridula^ and ^tipa comata as the 

 leading species, the Poa being the most abundant. In this field the 

 Stipas were unusually ^ne, overtopi)ing the other grasses. 



^''Festuca scabrella, the ' great bunch grass' and ' buftalo bunch grass,', 

 is one of the principal grasses of the country. It is the prevailing species 

 on the foot-hills and mountain slopes at from six to seven thousand feet. 

 In respect to elevation above the sea, the following is the order of the most 

 important grasses of the grazing lands of Montana: Bouteloua oligos- 

 tachytty Poa tenuifoUa, Ka'leria cristata, mid Agropyrum glaucum occupy 

 the low lands and benches; then Agropyrum divergens ; above this 

 is Festuca ovina, var,, and above all comes Festiica scahreUa. In any 

 of the mountain valleys the belts of altitude occupied by these grasses 

 are w^ell defined : First and lowest, Poa tenufoUa prevails; between this 

 and Festuca ovina there is usually, though not always, a belt of Agro- 

 pyrum divergens. Usually, at about 6,000 feet, Festuca ovina gives way 

 to Festuca scabrella. The latter mav be regarded as the more abundant 



