KILLING THE SOD. 



On lands where frequent rotation is desired smooth brome-grass 

 should not be sown. Its creeping rootstocks resemble to some extent 

 those of the common couch, or quitch-grass, and for this reason it is 

 not so easily killed by turning under as the more common grasses 

 used in rotations. Up to the present time the seed has been so 

 scarce and expensive that few farmers who have secured a good 

 field of the smooth brome have felt inclined to destroy the sod, so 

 that our knowledge on this subject is limited. 



The results of investigations carried on along this line at the Min- 

 nesota Experiment Station and the Manitoba Experiment Station at 

 Brandon, prove that the sod could be thoroughly and successfully 

 killed. It was found by these stations that a crop of hay can be 

 harvested and taken from the land, and if the sod was plowed over 

 immediately afterwards and backset in September, that at the latter 

 date the grass would be all dead. When the grass was allowed to 

 ripen seed, however, it was found that the new shoots at the base 

 had gained such a foothold that when the sod was plowed under at 

 this stage it was not killed at the time of backsetting in the fall. 



HARDINESS. 



Smooth brome-grass will withstand extreme changes in the tem- 

 perature without injury. Its ability to produce good pasture during 

 long periods of drought far exceeds that of any other cultivated 

 variety. In Canada where it had been exposed to a temperature of 

 several degrees below zero and not covered by snow it was entirely 

 uninjured. Out of seven or eight hundred varieties tried at the 

 Kansas Experiment Station this proved to be the best. Without 

 doubt it is the grass for the semiarid regions of the West. From 

 the reports received it is evident that it is very little influenced by 

 the changes of cUmate. It does well in California, Kansas, Mon- 

 tana, North and South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming, and 

 all parts of Canada. 



RESULTS OP TRIALS IN FORTY STATES. 



Out of six hundred and three experimenters receiving seed of 

 smooth brome-grass two hundred and sixty have complied with a 

 request from the Department for reports as to its success or failure. 



During the seasons of 1898 and 1809 report blanks have been sent 

 out to all those receiving seed of smooth brome-grass for trial, con- 

 taining the following questions : 



Kind, conditions, and preparation of soil ? 



Date and method of planting ? 



Cultivation, if any ? 



