16 THE AGRICULTUKAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



"where 3,000 feet above the sea, they would have thriven on the rich bunch grasses 

 ever accessible on those plains. Sheep should always have shelter from the cold 

 winds, but no other stock requires it. 



In Texas the grazing grounds are mostly at so low a level above the sea that the 

 grasses rot in winter. Hence, in the latter part of winter, the animals there are often 

 poor, and it is difficult to provide food forthem. Thus it isthatthevast herds started 

 from Texas to be driven to market acquire flesh and improve every hundred miles of 

 their journey north, as they reach new and well-advanced pastures. 



But we must now allude to another element which prepares the elevated regions for 

 winter grazing, viz, that the climate is much warmer than in the regions east of it in 

 the same latitude. The isothermal lines all ascend in moving westward. 



At Omaha cattle and horses must have shelter in winter, but none is needed at Fort 

 Laramie. The extreme severity at Fort Buford, Dak., 1,900 feet above the sea is, in 

 like manner, contrasted with the weather at Fort Phil Kearney or Powder River, 6,000 

 feet above the sea, or with the winter climate of Forts Custer and Keogb. 



Ssientists are not yet able to assign satisfactory reasons for these anomalies; per- 

 haps they are inscrutable. Why in ascending the slopes of the Rocky Mountain pla- 

 teaus a warmer climate should be encountered is a proper field for future consideration 

 and investigation. It still remains a paradox. 



We can make the following statement as to the region higher than 3,000 feet above 

 the sea, fit for winter grazing. It includes all, nearly up to the timber line, of Mon- 

 tana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico, and five-sixths of 

 Arizona, one-half of Dakota, one-third of Nebraska, one-fifth of Kansas, one-fourth of 

 Texas, and one-sixth each of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory. This 

 embraces, as we have already said, about one-fourth of the area of the whole United 

 States. 



Strange enough, all the best authorities who have had opportunities for comparison 

 say that those regions farthest north are the best. Brisbin, page 90, says : "Montana 

 has undoubtedly the best grazing grounds in America, and parts of Dakota stand 

 next." 



The writer thus engages in a cousideration of the elevated plateaus 

 of South America, Asia, and Africa, and a comi^arison with those of 

 our own country, and tjaus proceeds as follows : 



1 shall now give some account of the various grasses which are found on the plateaus^ 

 and which are summer-cured. In Appendix C will be found a letter to me, of March 

 1, 1883, from Dr. George Yasey, botanist of the Department of Agriculture, who has 

 complied with my request to give me a concise statement of the names of the prin- 

 cipal grasses. 



In general parlance it has been supposed that what are called *' bunch " grasses are 

 in the northern portions of the Rocky Mountain range, and that the "gama" or 

 " grama" grasses were peculiar to the southern territories in New Mexico and Arizona- 

 But I am- satisfied, from personal inquiries of travelers (Matey and Dutton among 

 others), as well as from the statements of the botanists, that both the '• bunch " grasses 

 and others are found in each region. But it seems probable that the "gama" and 

 ''grama" grasses are found in the greatest abundance in the more southern portions. 

 The "buffalo" f^rass or grasses (for the term is applied to more than one kind) are 

 found throughout all the ranges of the buffalo from north to south. The term 

 "bunch" grass was given because it grows in tufts or bunches a foot or more in 

 height, sometimes two feet apart, so that the aspect from surrounding hills would 

 often be that of a desert region. A green carpet is never or rarely seen. The buffalo 

 grass grows as a low tuft, and it is summer-cured as it grows, like the other grasses 

 under consideration. 



By the courtesy of General F. A. Walker, Superintendent of the Census, I had the 

 privilege of reading (before publication) a full and interesting paper by Prof. William 



