8 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



florets are .smooth or finely roughened and straw-colored or light 

 brown. (Fig. 3.) 



These seeds are as easily distinguished from rescue-grass seeds as 

 are those of chess. They are most readily distinguished from chess 

 seeds by the broader glume, longer awn. and shorter palea and grain. 



The following statement of the relative values of rescue grass and 

 chess is contributed by Mr. Carleton R. Ball, Assistant Agrostologist 

 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 sum- 

 mer 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 indicated 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 ha v. 



