WSP11679

• File Number: 8101
• Description: Arkansas River Basin Description
• State: CO
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 1/1/1944
• Author: USDA - SCS
• Title: Physical Land Conditions in the Western and Southwestern Baca County Soil Conservation Districts - Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

drought, and overgrazing, is devoid of
desirable grazing plants. Problems of
reestablishing grass are much the same,
whether the land has been cultivated
or not.
Grass may be reestablished bi natu-
ral recovery and by artificial s~eding.
The time required for natural regrass-
ing varies greatly. Under exception-
ally favorable conditions on land which
has been cultivated only a few years,
buffalo grass has become reestablished
in from 3 to 5 years. This rapid recov-
ery is due in part to the spreading habit
of this sod-forming grass and to tJ;te fact
that some of the seed remains 'in the
soil for several years before germinating.
Blue grama and most of the otHer im-
portant grasses of the area are very
slow to return naturally even under
favorable conditions. Available infor-
mation indicates that' on an ,average it
will take from 25 to 50 years for a good
grama-grass cover to become reestab-
lished by natural processes, assuming
that the land is continuously protected
from blowing. The steps in thi~ natu-
ral process are temporary stabilization
by anDual weeds, gradual replacement
by perennials and grasses of ; minor
grazmg value, and eventual reestab-
lishment of the grasses which originally
covered the area.
Oonsidering the time required for
grass to become reestablished naturo,lly,
the chance of widespread damage by,
wind erosion in such a procedure, the
eco:Q.o.rnic requirements within the area,
and available information rela~ive to
, artificial' reestablishment of grass, it
appears advisable to depend largely on
seeding for reestablishment of grass.
The native grasses common to the
area, blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis),
buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides), blue-
stem (Andropogon spp.), and associated
grasses, offer the most promise, None
of the tame grasses shows much promise
except possibly' Johnson grass on the
deep sandy SOIls. Johnson gras\;, con-
sidered a pest in some regions of more
rainfall, has shown up well as a pasture
crop in this part of the High Plains.
, A certain amount of cultivation is nec-
essary, however, to maintain a stand.
Grass seedings have been made en a

22

small scale since 1936, most of which
have failed to reestablish grass. These
failures have been due largely to poor
methods and subnormal precipitation.
Results obtained on somewhat similar
areas indicate that a high degree of
success may be obtained provided good
methods are employed. The impor-
tance of timely and thorough applica-
tion of the various steps must be em-
phasized strongly.
The first step towards reestablishing
grass artificially is identical with the
requirement for natural revegetation;
that is, stabilization of the soil against
blowing. Land that is hummocked
must be leveled before it can be per-
manently stabilized. After it is leveled,
the land should be prepared as if it
were to be used for producing sorghums
for a crop. Any adapted sorghum va-
riety may be used as a cover crop for
grass s~edjng the following year (fig. 10).
Seedmgs of the cover crop, as a rule,
should be made during the latter half of
June. Any drill may be used at this
time, but if earlier seedings are made a
, shovel-type drill should be used. Spaces
between the rows should not exceed 16
inches. Sudan grass should be drilled
at about 15 pounds per acre, broomcorn
12 to 15, and forage sorghum 20 to 30.
The sorghum should be mowed from 10
to 12 inches high before any seed has
matured, letting all hay fall on the land.
It may be necessary to mow a second
time in order to prevent formation of
seed.
It may be desirable to seed grasses in
weed cover provided the land has ha,d a
weed cover for several years, the soil
has become firm and stable, and some
perennial plants have already become
established. Plan tings in weed cover
should be made with the least possible
disturbance of the soil.
Blue grama' and buffalo grass should
be the principal grasses seeded on heavy
or semiheavy upland soils. Small quan-
tities of side-oats grama (Bouteloua
curtipendula), galleta (Hilaria jamesii),
and sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptan-
drus) should be added to the mixture.
Sand bluestem (Andropogon hallii)
and sid e-oats grama should be seeded on
sandy or semisnndy soils along with

Physical Land Conditions in the