20 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CALIFORNIA. 



From California tbirty-seven reports were received. They give the 

 followiug as the principal grasses : 



NATIVE PASTURE GRASSES. 



Wild oats (Avena fatua)^ alfilaria {Erodium cictitarium), bur-clover 

 (Medicago denticulata), wild clovers, of which there are several species, 

 and bunch-grass, in the order named. In the northern part of the State 

 a little wild rye-grass {Elymus)^ wild red-top, and wild pea-vine are 

 found. 



Accounts from the central and southern counties state that the native 

 bunch- grass, which formerly furnished a nutritious feed for a large part 

 of the Pacific slope, has of late years become about extinct, and in some 

 sections the alfilaria, bur-clover, and other forage plants, which were 

 found on the uncultivated lands during spring and early summer, are 

 slowly but surely dying out, and their places are being taken by a 

 worthless grass that nothing will eat green or dry. 



Mr. CO. Tucker, of Ballena, attributes this gradual disappearance 

 of the native grasses to the constant and too close pasturage at and 

 prior to the time for matuiing tbeir seeds, and to a too i^ersistent pas- 

 turage with sheep at other times, causing the ground to become thor- 

 oughly trodden and compacted. This has been followed during the 

 last few years by unusually hot and dry summers. He knows of no 

 section where the need of useful forage i^lants is more severely felt than 

 here. 



Mr. Mart. Walker, of Saint Helena, says that there is an intense de- 

 sire among farmers to obtain a grass capable of resisting the intense 

 heat and drought of summer, and aftord grazing for cattle during that 

 period, and if possible one that will grow on poor soil. For the want 

 of some such resource manj^ districts are fast becoming worthless. He 

 says that this results from the system of continuous cropping to which 

 the laud has been subjected for the last tbirty years. 



NATIVE GRASSES CUT FOR HAY. 



Except wild oats and bur-clover but little native grass is cut for hay. 

 In the northern part of the State a little wild-rye grass, wild red top, 

 and in some localities rushes are cut. 



CULTIVATED GRASSES. 



The various grains, as wheat, rye, and barley, cut when in the milk, 

 are principally relied upon for hay in many parts of California. They 

 come as volunteers, or very often after the grain is taken off a " half 

 cast" of seed is sown on the stubble at the first rain in the fall and 

 harrowed in. Wild oats are cut extensively, and alfalfa {Medicago 

 sativa), often called lucern, is cultivated largely for hay, especially in 



