During July and August the weather was very hot and dry, 

 affording excellent opportunity to observe the drought-resisting 

 properties of the various crops. Some very interesting results were 

 obtained in this connection. Many of the plats, however, had been 

 sown so late that the young plants had not become firmly established 

 before they were overcome by the arid conditions which followed. 

 A large number managed to just about hold their own during those 

 months and afterward made a good growth. 



The land allotted to this Division was divided by a roadway into 

 two nearly equal fields, numbered 9 and 10. Each field was then 

 laid out into plats a rod square, with paths 2 feet wide running in 

 both directions. There were about 480 of these plats. Each row of 

 plats running lengthwise of the field was given a series letter. A, B, 

 C, etc., and the plats in each series were numbered consecutively. 

 The first of the series in field 9 would thus be 9 — A — 1, the second 

 9 — A — 2, and so on for row A, The plats in the next row would be 

 9 — B — 1, 9 — B — 2, etc. The same scheme was used for field 10. 



PERENNIAL MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 



About 150 plats were devoted to experiments with grasses other 

 than the millets and sorghums. Quite a large number of those sown 

 earliest were rendered valueless for test purposes by a heavy rain 

 falling just after seeding, washing arway a large amount of seed and 

 mixing some of the remainder. This was most unfortunately the 

 case in a series containing 25 brome grasses, from which much in 

 the way of comparative results had been hoped. No report is made 

 here on several of our common cultivated grasses, such as red tops, 

 orchard grass, etc., which were included in the experiment. These 

 are well known perennials, and may better be reported on in another 

 season. 



Bermuda grass (Cynodon Dactylon (L. ) Pers.) — This plat was intended to 

 demonstrate that Bermuda could be profitably started from seed, and it was a 

 complete success. The seed was from the Division supply, purchased in 1899, 

 and was planted June 6 at the rate of 20 pounds per acre. By the middle of 

 July there was an abundance of the creeping stems 3 to 6 inches long. Two 

 weeks later the plat presented a luxuriant mass of foliage about 4 inches high. 

 On the 20th of August the creeping branches covered the ground completely for 

 a distance of 2 or 3 feet on all sides of the plat, which was a dense mass of grass 

 12 to 18 inches high, and was ready for cutting. The sides of the plat were now 

 cut back to their original position. Two months later, on October 20, the 

 foliage was still soft, luxuriant, and perfectly healthy, while the creeping stems 

 had again reached a length of 4 feet. Had the plat been cut for bay at the 

 time the stems were cut back it would have been ready for a second cutting 

 before this date. Pieces of the stem trimmed off in August had covered the 

 entire surface of an adjacent vacant plat with wiry stems which have as yet 

 produced few leaves. Several severe frosts during the first two weeks of Novem- 

 ber killed most of the foliage. 



