The following statement of the relative values of rescue grass and 

 chess is contributed by Mr. Carleton R. Ball, Assistant Agrostolo- 

 gist of the Department of Agriculture : 



Rescue grass was introduced into the South some fifty years ago and has 

 since been widely cultivated. Its chief value is for winter and early spring 

 grazing. It is very hardy, and makes a luxuriant and rapid growth throughout 

 the winter, under favorable conditions. Although it is an annual plant, it is 

 said to become a short lived perennial under close grazing, which prevents the 

 production of seed. In ordinary practice the grass is allowed to reseed itself 

 each season. Where grazed, stock should be taken off long enough to allow 

 seed to ripen in the early summer. If it is cut for hay in March the aftermath 

 will usually reseed the ground. A summer crop may be grown on the same 

 ground if it be taken off early enough to allow the young plants to begin their 

 growth in the fall. Rescue grass is best adapted to rich, loamy soils. On light, 

 poor soils it is probably inferior to rye or oats for pasturage or hay. 



Chess is becoming more and more common as a weed in southern wheat fields. 

 In some parts of the country, particularly in the Northwest, it has considerable 

 value as a hay crop. A similar value has sometimes been claimed for it in the 

 Southern States, but the general opinion is quite the opposite. It often appears 

 abundantly where grain crops have been killed by unfavorable conditions. 

 There are, however, other catch crops with fewer weedy tendencies and greater 

 forage value which may be employed in such cases. In feeding value, as indi- 

 cated by chemical analyses, chess ranks lower than most grasses, including 

 rescue grass. This has been proved to be true of it even in the Northwest, 

 where it is so largely used for hay. 



