REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 229 



GRASSES 



AWNLESS BROME GRASS 

 {Bromus inermis, Leyss). 



One of the most valuable pieces of work which has been accomplished by the 

 Experimental Farms is the successful introduction into Canadian Agriculture of the 

 Awnless Brome Grass, which, on the whole, has done better than any other introduced 

 grass we have sent out for trial, both for hay and for pasture. The seed of this grass 

 was imported from Russia during the first year of the institution of the Experimental 

 Farms, and it has been grown ever since, with remarkable success. Every year small 

 packages of the seed have been distributed ftee, in every province of the Dominion to 

 such fanners as have asked for samples, and the reports received from them have been 

 most satisfactory. On the prairies of the West, where, on account of the rapid settle- 

 ment of the country and of the increase in the numbers of stock, the native grasses are 

 now failing, the Awnless Brome grass is found to be a most useful substitute. 



The seed germinates readily and the young plants soon become established. It is 

 a perennial grass with running root-stocks, and is conspicuous for its free leafy growth 

 and tall stems (3 to 5 feet high), which bear an abundance of seed. It flowers at Ottawa 

 in the last week of June or the first week of July. It is very hardy and early, and pro- 

 duces a large crop of hay, which, although rather coarse-looking, is soft, sweet-smelling 

 and palatable to all stock ; chemical analysis also shows that it possesses great food 

 value. ^ 



ISTot only does Awnless Brome grass thrive in the rich, moist soil of the eastern 

 provinces, but its growth and productiveness are so wonderful, even it the dry plains of 

 the West, that its cultivation, together with that of the Western Rye-grass (Agrojjyrum 

 tenerum, Vasey), — another most valuable grass, a native of iNforth-western America, 

 which indeed is the well known *' Bunch Grass " of the West, — may be said without 

 exaggeration to have solved the problem of fodder production on a large scale in the 

 arid western sections. Under irrigation on the farm of Mr. Wm. Hull, of Calgary, 

 Brome grass has given on 200 acres of land the enormous yield of 4| tons of grass per 

 acre. It seems to stand a little more water than Timothy when irrigated. On good 

 lands in the east it produces without irrigation from Ig^ to 2|- tons of hay per acre. 



One notable feature which distinguishes this grass, is that, while most grasses after 

 the flowering period deteriorate rapidly while the seeds ripen, Awnless Brome grass can 

 be left standing till the seeds are fully ripe, and yet the hay crop will be heavier, without 

 being poorer, than if it had been cut when in flower, as should be done generally for all 

 hay grasses in order to get the best value. This remarkable characteristic of Brome 

 grass is due to the fact that after the seed-bearing stem has grown up, a great number 

 of leafy sterile shoots spring up from its base. It is owing to this supplementary growth 

 that the straw, after threshing, still makes hay of excellent quality. 



A special value for this grass has lately been discovered, namely, its adaptability 

 for alkaline soil. Mr. Mackay, having tried some experiments, reports as follows : — 

 " Indian Head, Assa., Nov. 12. — The Brome grass on alkaline land, which I referred to 

 in speaking to the Committee on Agriculture while in Ottawa, was grown on two low 

 spots in a field of about 15 acres. The spots are not very large (f acre in both), but, 

 before sowing, the bottoms were white with alkali, though not so bad as low places in 

 other districts. A good many crops had been grown on the field prior to the grass 

 being sown, and no doubt have had some effect on the alkali. It seems to me as if 

 alkali washes out of the soil into low spots, for we find it in varying quantities in places 

 where water stands for a few days and then settles into the soil. Last June we had a 

 deluge of rain, leaving us a 5-acre plot in one of the grain fields covered with water 



