SOME COLORADO GRASSES. 
11 
'rupestris. Of the rushes (Juncus), the species most valued 
are Balticus and Mertensiana. The last mentioned is 
thought to be the most desirable. This rush is considered 
by stockmen as being more valuable for hay than any of 
the grasses. Stock certainly relish the heavy-seeded cap¬ 
sules of this species. 
Seeds were collected of 120 species, but in quantity 
only of kinds thought to be profitable. 
The most promising grasses for pasture are Festuca 
scabrella, Oryzopsis cuspidata, Elymus sibericus, Agropyrum 
diver gens, Stipa viridula, of some of the finer forms. 
For hay: Agropyrum glaucum and violaceum, Poa 
tenuifolia, Sporobolus depauperatus, E lymus Americanus, 
Deyeuxia stricta, D. Canadensis, Hilaria Jamesii. 
While many of the native species are very deficient 
in top, still it must be acknowledged that they improve 
wonderfully in vigor with irrigation. This is notably so 
in the case of buffalo grass ( Buchloe dactyloides), which 
more than holds its own in meadows where alfalfa has 
been thinlv seeded and which are irrigated two or three 
limes a year. 
Some of the grasses collected- must prove valuable in 
regions having a sufficient rainfall, or where irrigation can 
be had. Nothing can be finer, in the way of a hay grass, 
than the glaucous-leaved form of Poa tenuifolia, or the 
two forms of Agi opyrum violaceum. 
Of the species most likely to succeed on the dry 
plains, the following are the most promising: Elymus 
JSibericus, Agropyrum divergens in two forms, Hilaria Jamesii, 
..Festuca scabrella, Oryzopsis cuspidata , Koeleria cristata, Spo¬ 
robolus airoides, Muhlenbergici Wrightii, gracilis, Bouteloua 
oligostachya and B. racemosa, and a few others. 
