SOME COLORADO GRASSES. 
$ 
Holmes, agent of the department, and by Mr. Hoag,, 
ot Fort Collins, who has given considerable attention to 
the native grasses. 
The route traversed was a northerly one, through the 
Virginia Dale country to the Laramie plains. The irri¬ 
gated and lion-irrigated meadows were carefully examined. 
Thence by Fort Halleck to North Park by Pass plains 
and Big Creek, to Middle and vEgeria Parks by the 
Arapahoe, Muddy and Gore Passes. 
Haying had begun when avc started, and was con¬ 
tinuous until we reached higher mountain meadows. 
Whatever of open range there is is very much over¬ 
done, and in many cases the native grasses have given 
way to Chenopodium Fremontii and the varieties. 
Cattle ate so plentifully of these plants that, in the 
“ round-ups” many cases of hoven resulted, all of which 
were fatal unless the animals received attention. On the 
Laramie plains the native meadows consist of Agropymm 
glaucum, the type with glaucous leaves and one with dark 
green leaves; Koeleria cristata —the latter, when irrigated, is 
fully three feet high; Poa andina and sparsely leaved 
forms of tenuifolia. In very wet spots are found Aim 
caespitosa and Poa laevis ; in alkaline soils Sporobolus 
airoides and Distichlis maritima are the prevailing species. 
At high elevations Poa tenuifolia is at its best in two forms, 
the glaucous-leaved form being especially desirable; also, 
two forms of Agropymm violaceum, a magnificent hay 
grass. Elymus Americana , four to seven feet high, occurs 
in large patches in openings in the timber. The dry 
plains and high parks abound in Artemesia tridr ntata, 
Bigelovia albicaulis and “ greasewood.” 
Willows of several species—the aspen, alder, birch, 
Rhus aromatica, var. trilobata, mountain mahogany, service- 
berry, Amelanchier and Heuchera, with some species of cur¬ 
rant and gooseberry—abound in the bottoms along 
