22 
GRAMA, OR BUFFALO-GRASS. 
gent, vigorous, muscular animal, like the pure 
north Devon, or Hereford, or native New England 
ox, ought to be substituted for both the mule and 
horse, wherever the latitude and labor will admit 
of their employment to advantage. 
R. L. Allen. 
Buffalo , December 13 th, 1843. 
GRAMA, OR BUFFALO-GRASS. 
This article is the first of a series which is 
promised us by a friend of ours, Dr. Lyman of 
Massachusetts, who has recently returned from a 
three years’ tour among the Rocky mountains, the 
northwest coast,- California, parts of South Ameri¬ 
ca, and the Sandwich islands. They will be de¬ 
scriptive, mainly, of such products as may be in¬ 
troduced with advantage into our country. We 
wish the numerous intelligent travellers from the 
United States abroad, were more often in the habit 
of chronicling their observations on the agricultu¬ 
ral products of foreign countries for the benefit of 
their countrymen. In consequence of its growing 
up so thick and fine, we think the buffalo-grass 
peculiarly adapted for lawns and ornamental 
grounds, in addition to its great value as a pasture 
for sheep and other animals. 
I noticed page 234 of the last volume of your 
paper, an account of a grass seen on the western 
prairies, by Captain Cook of the United States 
Dragoons. The description he gives of it is en¬ 
tirely correct, with the exception of the name which 
he has given to it. He has accurately described 
a grass which is familiar to all who have visited 
a portion of that vast extent of country lying be¬ 
tween our western frontiers and the coast of Cali¬ 
fornia, but recognised as the “ grama,” to which 
Captain Cook applies the name of “ buffalo-grass.” 
It is to be met with in any quantity only between 
the 96° west longitude, meridian of Greenwich, 
and the eastern edge of the Rocky mountains. 
The name of grama was given to ihe grass of 
which Captain Cook has furnished a description, 
by the early Spaniards or new Mexicans. It is 
probably derived from the Latin gramen, and ap¬ 
plied by the first settlers of New Mexico to this 
grass, from the fact of its being the grass of grasses , 
a vegetable containing, in a small compass, all of 
the most highly azotized principles subservient to 
animal assimilation. It is not found in as great 
abundance as some other grasses, such as the 
river-bottom grass, which, in appearance, is like 
the early green swamp grass, but more tender and 
nutritious, and the leaves never serrated. The 
river-bottom grass is also, in appearance, similar 
to the rank prairie-grass, except in luxuriance, 
never exceeding twelve or eighteen inches in 
height; whereas, the prairie-grass, about the west¬ 
ern frontiers, grows to the height of three, and 
even four feet. Both of these grasses seem to af¬ 
ford but few temptations to the grazing animal, 
and are only eaten by them when impelled by 
hunger or deficiency of other food, even in the 
spring, when young and fresh. Animals, however 
hungry and travel-worn, will take no notice of it, 
but search diligently and greedily for the grama 
or buffalo grasses, as soon as they discover their 
presence. The two latter grasses are seldom 
found in the same soil with the first, but occasion¬ 
ally I have seen them, and observed with interest 
animals picking out with care the scattering blades 
which they discover, shooting up among rich clus¬ 
ters of bottom-grass, which would seem sufficient¬ 
ly tempting to a tired*, hungry animal. 
Prairie and river-bottom grasses are only to be 
found in rich moist soil; whereas, both buffalo 
and grama grasses are only met with in abun¬ 
dance and perfection in hard, dry, and gravelly 
soil, on side hills and the elevation of undulating 
prairies and valleys. In fact, hunters and trappers, 
and others who roam over our great western wilds, 
think themselves fortunate in finding water, par¬ 
ticularly running streams, in the vicinity of these 
grasses; for there they usually remain a few days 
to recruit their exhausted animals, and procure 
their supplies of wild meat, which, in the vicinity 
of these, never fails; proving, satisfactorily, the 
vast superiority of these grasses over others, the 
conduct of both domestic and wild graminivorous 
animals, influenced by their native instinct in the 
preference, vouching indubitably for this superi¬ 
ority. 
The principal source of nutrition in the “ buffa¬ 
lo” (grama) grass, is correctly attributed by Cap¬ 
tain Cook to reside in the seeds; whereas, that of 
the true buffalo-grass exists in the whole plant. 
This latter grass ripens much later than the gra¬ 
ma, and its seeds are retained in the plant far less 
tenaciously. In fact, they are held by so slight a 
grasp, that the plant is entirely divested of them, 
almost immediately upon ripening; whereas, the 
grama retains its seeds until winter. Even late 
in January, upon scraping away the snow, laying 
bare the grass for my animals to graze, I have 
found the grama bent flat upon the ground, but 
still retaining many of the seeds, which I have 
shelled out with my fingers. 
I have met with the buffalo-grass in quantities, 
only between about the 96th degree of west longi¬ 
tude, and the eastern border of the Rocky moun¬ 
tains. I do not recollect ever to have seen any 
within the mountains .during the twelve months I 
was there, nor in a long and circuitous journey to 
the shores of the Pacific. After leaving the west¬ 
ern frontier of the United States, the character of 
the country and soil is exceedingly fertile. The 
vast undulating prairies are very generally covered 
with the high, luxuriant prairie-grass, and along 
the borders of many of the creeks, are found, in 
the greatest abundance, the wild pea, wild cherry 
and plum-trees, affording food to endless flocks of 
wild turkeys and prairie-hens, the latter bird, but 
very little inferior in size to the domestic fowl. 
Approaching the vicinity of the 96th degree of 
longitude, the traveller finds himself on the ex¬ 
treme borders of the “ buffalo country.” Here 
the character of the soil begins to change from 
the rich, moist loam, to hard, dry, gravelly land. 
Here terminates the prairie-grass, and in its place 
appears the buffalo-grass, so named, perhaps, from 
