8 THE CULTURE AND USES OF BROME-GEASS. 



SO far is very limited, and the proportions of the different grasses to 

 use and the methods of handlins: have not been well worked out. 



At present timothy seems to be the most common grass used in 

 mixtures; alfalfa, red clover, slender wheat-grass, meadow fescue, 

 and orchard grass are also used. Grasses and cloA^ers are mixed with 

 Bromus inermis to improve the quality and yield of forage and, for 

 what is probably of more importance, to prolong the period of pro- 

 ductiveness by keeping the brome-grass from becoming sod-bound. 

 Results of experiments to determine this period have so far been 

 rather indefinite. It is probable that the sod-bound condition can be 

 dela^^ed for a short while, but not for any great length of time. 

 Alfalfa and clover are of value also, since they tend to maintain the pro- 

 ductivity of the soil, and where these plants are mixed with brome- 

 grass they can be pastured Avith little danger to stock from bloating. 



Timothy has been grown with brome-grass at the Manitoba experi- 

 ment farm with very good results, but it is the opinion there that it does 

 not materially increase the life of a meadow and that the brome-grass 

 eventually crowds it out. This mixture is quite commonly grown 

 throughout ^^lanitoba. Mixtures have been tried on the experiment 

 farm at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, and one composed of 7 pounds 

 of Bromvs inermis and 7 pounds of slender wheat-grass {Agropyron 

 tenerum) has given good results. A meadow of this mixture after 

 having been down for six years without renewing still remained pro- 

 ductive, yielding two tons of hay to the acre. In the Dakotas experi- 

 ments are being conducted Avith alfalfa and brome-grass, and there 

 is a probability of the combination coming into general use where 

 alfalfa can be successfidly grown. Mixtures with orchard grass and 

 ]neadoAv fescue have given indications of being worthy of attention. 

 In all permanent mixtures the quantity of brome-grass seed u<ed 

 should be smaller than the sum of the other constituents, as brome- 

 grass has a tendency to crowd out the other grasses. 



USES AND VALUE. 

 PASTURE. 



Although grown as a general-purpose grass, Bromus inermis is 

 much better adapted for use as pasture than for hay, on account of 

 its tendency to form a turf. It furnishes a large qaantity of pala- 

 table pasturage, and is especially valuable because it can be grazed 

 early in the spring and late in the fall, and unless the season is unfavor- 

 able it fm-nishes a considerable amount of feed during the summer. 

 Where it is now being grown there are no grasses that can equal it 

 for pasture on sandy land, as it not only produces Avell on such soil, 

 but forms a sod that withstands trampling and is not easily pulled up 



111— V 



