THE AGRICULTURAL GttASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 



regarded as one of tlie 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, curly leaves make a dense turf of 

 highly nutritious herbage. The true buffalo grass (Bucldoe) was not 

 seen. 



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

 lands, disputing possession with Poa tentiifoUa. These two maj be said 

 to be the most common grasses of the low districts. 



IHstichlis 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 broken up. 



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

 cellent food for stock. On the mountain tops we find Poa alpina^ Poa 

 Jam, and Poa ccesia. Poa Xeradensis is common along mountain stream*^ 

 and on the slopes we find Poa serotina and Poa nenioralis. Poa pratensis 

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

 Poa temnfolia, in its various forms, may be called the grass of the coun- 

 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 buffalo 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 temiifoUa in bloom i^resents 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 Koeleri 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 temiifolia, Koeleria cristata^ Stipa viridula, and Stipa comata as the 

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

 Sti2)as were unusually fine, overtopping the other grasses. 



^^Festuca scahreUa, the ' great bunch grass' and ' buffalo 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 oUgos- 

 taehya, Poa tenuifoUa, Kceleria cristata, and Agropyrum glaucum occupy 

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

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

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

 are well defined: First and lowest, Poa tenu folia prevails; between this 

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

 ptyrum dirergens. Usually, at about 6,000 feet, Festuca ovina gives way 

 to Festuca scahrella. The latter may be regarded as the more abundant 



