History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

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AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES.
Bunch-grass, on which the countless flocks and
herds of Utah mainly subsist, first makes its appearance
on the western slope of the Black Hills, and
thence is found at intervals as far as the eastern slope
of the Sierra Nevada. Growing in clumps, as its name
implies, and on the most unkindly soil, in thirsty
sand or on barren hills, it gives value to millions of
acres which would otherwise be absolutely worthless.
Its growth commences in early spring, and though in
May or June it dries up, it is still nutritious, having
then the appearance of a light-yellow straw. Within
its withered stalk it puts forth a green shoot after the
first autumnal rains, and its pyriform seed, resembling
the oat but of smaller size, is the favorite food of
cattle. In winter it gathers juice and nourishment
beneath the snow, and except in the late summer
months, when it is still of fair quality on the mountains
and high in the canon ravines, 26 serves as pasture
for stock the year round, producing large, sinewy
limbs and strong, elastic muscles, and giving to the
beef and mutton an excellent flavor. 27
As elsewhere on the Pacific slope, before 1886 the
range for cattle decreased, lands once common for
grazing 28 being taken up for agriculture, while sheepraising
was found to be a more profitable industry.
Hence the introduction of alfalfa, in which many
thousands of acres were seeded, the yield being three
to four tons on inferior and poorly irrigated land, and
ten tons under more favorable conditions.
Region, in House Ex. Doc, 45th Cong. 2d Sess., xiii. no. 73, pp. 14-19, 27-8,
98-102; U. S. Agr. Bept, 1875, 331-2; for tenure of timber-lands, House Ex.
Doc., 46th Cong. 2d Sess., xxii., pp. 497-S; for depredations committed on
timber-lands, 8. L. C. Tribune, June 26, 1875.
26 L. B. Adams, in 1884 a resident of Ogden and the owner of one of the
best winter ranges for stock about 20 miles south of Rozel, says that feed ia
I'lentiful throughout the summer.
27 Burton's City of the Saints, 171-2; Beadle's Life in Utah. For further
mention of pasture-lands in Utah, see House Ex. Doc, 42d Cong. 2d Sess.,
325, 233 et seq., no. 326, 243 et seq. In 1877 the islands of Great Salt Lake
were used as herd-grounds.
23 In 1856 several acts were passed granting 'herd-grounds' to various parties.
See Utah Acts, 1855-6, passim. In 1S60 more than 30 of these grants
were revoked. Id., 1S56-60, 26-30.