16 BULLETIN 367, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
collections (Nos. 28 and 42, fig. 2) made on the area plowed in 
1912 and those (Nos. 39 and 41, fig. 2) made on the area plowed in 
1913 gives an average total production of 797 pounds per acre, of 
which 3889 pounds, or less than 50 per cent, is grass, and of this 
grass 164 pounds, or shghtly more than 25 per cent of the total 
herbage, is perennial grass. A spring collection on this area (No. 
33, fig. 2) made the second spring after plowing shows no real 
spring plants at all and no grass growing. The plants collected 
were all small, green, and growing, or rather waiting for more water 
to continue their growth. They were all species that belong to the 
summer rather than the spring growth. On the unplowed ground 
near by the small spring annuals, Plantago, Gilia, Caucalis, Filago, 
etc., were very small and all dried up at this time and, except for a 
few Gilia flocossa, were none of them growing on the plowed land. 
The difference was doubtless due to the condition of moisture of 
the surface soil which existed at the time of germination, the amount 
of available moisture in the soil, and the depth of planting required 
by the different seeds. The grasses will almost certainly take pos- 
session of these plowed areas in a shorter time than they would on 
an overstocked range, since the plants all about the area will fur- 
nish plenty of seeds, and the soil’s ability to catch and hold water 
has been increased considerably by the plowing. As the soil settles 
and grows more compact the smaller spring annuals may be expected 
to become abundant. The plowed area near the southwest corner 
(at I, fig. 2) produced a much smaller amount of available feed which 
was largely composed of annual grasses even before plowing. The 
average amount of feed as shown by the collections made in 1913 
and 1914 is of the same order of magnitude as that of the unplowed 
ground, but has a smaller proportion of grass of any kind and 
almost no perennial grass. The rate at which this area will be 
invaded by the Isocoma will be of some importance. No seedlings 
of this species were found on the plowed land in September, 1914, 
though special search was made for them. There were numerous 
seeding plants in the vicinity and a few of them on the plowed 
area itself. 
NATURE AND RATE OF THE RECOVERY. 
A comparison of the condition of the fenced area as described by 
Griffiths at the time of its inclosure in 1903+ with its condition in 
1914, as given in this bulletin, brings out some interesting generaliza- 
tions as to the nature and degree of recovery that may be expected 
upon overstocked and eaten-down ranges in this region when 
properly cared for. In 1903 the grasses were to be found in any- 
thing like a thick stand only as far north and west as a line con- 
1 See Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 67. 
