GRASSES IN KANSAS 373 



pastures and meadows are desirable these lands had better be left 

 in grass, since there are no grasses better adapted for permanent 

 pasture or permanent meadow in Kansas than the native grasses 

 which grow on Kansas prairies. As yet we have not been able to 

 domesticate these wild grasses so that they can be re-seeded suc- 

 cessfully. Several of the native grasses are being grown by our 

 botanical department with the idea of domesticating them and select- 

 ing improved varieties for propagation. The following are valuable 

 and permanent wild Kansas grasses: Big bluestem (Andropogan 

 furcatus), little bluestem (Andropogan scoparius), buffalo grass 

 (Buchloe dactyloides), gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides} , Indian 

 grass (Chrysopogon nutans) , switch grass (Panicum virgatum), 

 Prairie oats (Bouteloua racemosa}, prairie grass (Koeleria cristata 

 and Katonii obtusata), and short gama (Bouteloua hirsuta). 



As pastures and meadows get old they become sod-bound and less 

 productive, and this is true of wild grasses as well as of domestic 

 grasses. The available fertility of the soil finally becomes ex- 

 hausted and much of it is locked up in the immense root system 

 which is developed by a thick growth of grass. With domestic 

 grasses ?. new growth may often be secured by thoroughly disking 

 and harrowing the sod early in the spring, and this method has also 

 been successfully practiced with the native grasses. The disking 

 has the effect of destroying part of the grass plants, whose roots 

 soon decay, furnishing new food for the growth of the grass. 

 The disking also breaks up the compact condition caused by the 

 tramping of stock, and areates the soil, while the mulch of mellow 

 earth acts to conserve the soil moisture, thus favoring the growth of 

 the grass. 



In order to get the greatest results, however, fertilizers should 

 be applied along with the disking. No better fertilizer can be 

 applied to grass than barnyard manure. The top-dressing applied 

 in the fall or early winter serves as a cover to protect the grass roots 

 from the extremes of temperature. As spring opens the water 

 from the melting snow and rains carries the nutrients from the 

 manure down to the roots of the grass, causing an early strong 

 growth, which continues throughout the season. During the sum- 

 mer also, the manure acts as a mulch to keep the water in the soil, 

 thus protecting the plants more or less from the influence of dry 

 weather. There is no more convenient place to haul manure than 

 on the grass land; there is no crop which responds more readily 



