Two native species of clover, Rocky mountain and Beckwith's, add greatly to the nutritive value of the meadow hay in some places. There are very many other plants, both annual and perennial, as well as a large variety of shrubs, which are of value from a forage standpoint, but cannot be here enumerated.
The Great Basin region.
This region is bounded on the west by the Sierra Nevada mountains, extending northward to include parts of Oregon and Idaho, and southward to northern Arizona. Sagebrush and rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus) are the prevailing plants, except where alkali is present, when the vegetation changes to iodine weed (Sunda), greasewood (Sarcobatus), saltgrass (Distichlis), and saltbushes, according to the percentage of injurious mineral salts in the soils. In the central part of Nevada, along the Humboldt river, there are immense tracts of wild native hay and pasture lands. The stock is allowed to roam in the hills during the summer and in the autumn is turned into the meadows after the hay is all stacked, when they feed among the tules (Typha) and other places inaccessible to the mower. The hay consists largely of wild wheat-grass (Elymus). It is sold at so much per day for range stock being fattened for market. In the desert regions there are numerous moun tain valleys irrigated by the melting snow from the mountains. These produce an abundance of native hay and pasturage, comprised largely of blue-grasses, clovers, sedges and rushes. Giant rye-grass (Elymus), when young and green, is cut in considerable quantities and left in bunches where the cattle feed on it in winter when other forage becomes scarce. There are hundreds of other plants of considerable value that are browsed on through out the year to a greater or less extent.
Pacific slope region.
In this region might be included the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the ter ritory of Alaska. It may be divided into the follow ing geographical sections, each with its character istic climate. (a) Pacific coast ; (b) upper Pacific coast ; (c) interior valley of California ; (d) the Inland Empire ; and (e) Alaska.
(a) Pacific coast.—This section is characterized by low hills of usually poor soil, although in a few places the coast line has been eroded and has formed fertile flood plains. On these bottom lands
one acre to a cow is usually sufficient, and stock is on pasture for nine months of the year. The native pasturage consists of oat-grass (Danthonia), red fescue, hair-grass (Deschampsia), blue-grass (Pea), and about ten wild clovers (Trifolium), while mixed with these to a greater or less extent are a number of introduced species, such as the perennial and Italian ray-grasses (Lolium), velvet-grass, soft chess, white clover, bur-clover (Hedicago), black medic and alfilaria.
(b) Upper Pacific coast.—This section includes northern California and the western parts of Ore gon and Washington. The pastures consist mainly of tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia), white-top, meadow barley-grass (Hordeum), oat-grass, prairie June-grass (Kceleria), California fescue, reed grass, slough-grass (Beckmannia), melic-grass (.11eliea), sheep's fescue, blue-grasses and several needle-grasses (Stipa). Adding greatly to the nutri tive value of the hay and pastures are about fif teen species of native clovers. The mountain ranges also support an almost endless variety of plants of forage value, such as the vetches, wild lupines, sunflowers, wild carrots, Indian potato and many others. To the detriment of the native plants, three weedy brome-grasses, velvet-grass, small barley grass and squirrel-tail grass have become natural ized. Hogs are usually turned into the woods, where they find plenty to eat almost the entire year round, feeding on acorns, nuts, manzanita berries, bulbs and tubers, together with grasses and clovers.
(c) Interior valley of California.—This section includes two immense valleys, which form a huge basin in the central part of California. Locally the basin is divided into the San Joaquin and Sac ramento valleys, named after the rivers which run through them. The flood waters of these rivers extend during the spring months over hundreds of square miles of land, making it worthless except for pasturage, and then only in the late summer months. As the waters recede, a strong dense growth of tubes (Scirpus) is produced, which, to gether with sedges, rushes and water-loving grasses, provides forage for large numbers of stock.