. Bulletin. Gramineae -- United States; Forage plants -- United States. 38 low mountainous ridges lying between the rivers, the bulk of the lands are level or gently rolling. The entire region lying north of the Colorado and Concho rivers is well grassed and watered and is not overrun to such an extent by the mesquite beau and prickly pear as are the ranges farther to the south- ward. The chief pest and the one which causes the greatest destruc. tion of grasses is the prairie dog, which, according to stockmen, is rapidly increasing in numbers, so that in some places the carrying capacity has d
. Bulletin. Gramineae -- United States; Forage plants -- United States. 38 low mountainous ridges lying between the rivers, the bulk of the lands are level or gently rolling. The entire region lying north of the Colorado and Concho rivers is well grassed and watered and is not overrun to such an extent by the mesquite beau and prickly pear as are the ranges farther to the south- ward. The chief pest and the one which causes the greatest destruc. tion of grasses is the prairie dog, which, according to stockmen, is rapidly increasing in numbers, so that in some places the carrying capacity has diminished fully 50 per cent within less than ten years from this cause alone. This portion of the State, to- gether with the Staked Plains, was formerly the winter feeding ground of a large part of the great south- ern herd of buffalo, and it is the portion which benefited most during the ten years immediately succeeding the destruction of the buffalo. The rainfall at Abilene, which may betaken asacen- tral point from east to west, averages about 27 inches per year, although there has been a variation of from 11 to 35 inches during a series of twenty-live years. The rainfall of the region as a whole is' probably be- tween 20 and 30 inches, placing it within the cate- gory of semiarid sections. During average years cere- als and cotton may be suc- cessfully grown, but the whole area is liable to suffer from severe droughts in off years, during which no dependence can be placed ui)on any of the cultivated crops. Such semiarid countries, no matter where they exist, can best be utilized in pasturing live stock, and the live-stock interests will always be the most important ones, even thongh certain of the more fertile valleys are converted into farm lands. The carrying capacity of the land here was formerly ecjual to the best. It is estimated that in IbSO the average for this whole region could not have been much loss than 100 head per square mile, while picked sections would carry
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectforageplantsunitedst
