312 FIELD CROPS 



due to poor plowing and indifferent cultivation. Turning 

 the sod completely over so that none of it is exposed to the 

 sui'face, followed by the growth of a cultivated crop, will 

 usually be effective in preventing the growth of this grass. 



408. Uses. As previously stated, the best use of brome 

 grass is for the production of pasturage in the Great Plains 

 and Rocky IMountain states. It is useful there also as a hay 

 grass, particularly for the first two years after seeding, for it 

 produces an abundance of hay until it becomes sodbound. It 

 then makes a good growth of root leaves, so that it is valuable 

 for pasture, but throws up few flowering stems. Farther 

 east, it is perhaps better as a pasture than as a hay grass. 

 It is particularly^ recommended in the Central states for 

 planting with alfalfa for pasture. It is one of the most pal- 

 atable of grasses, cattle eating it in preference to blue grass. 

 II is also of value in improving worn-out lands, as it produces 

 a large quantity of stems and roots and adds materially to 

 the vegetable matter in the soil. The principal difficulty 

 in sowing brome grass is that it is not often possible to obtain 

 seed which is free from quack grass. 



MISCELLANEOUS GRASSES 



409. The Wheat Grasses. The wheat grasses are of 

 considerable value as pasture grasses throughout the northern 

 Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest. Slender wheat 

 grass, Agropyron tenerum, is grown to some extent as a hay 

 grass in Washington and Oregon. It is particularly adapted 

 to dry-land farming. Another native grass of this region, 

 Agropyron diver gens, or bunch grass, is also w^orthj^ of culti- 

 vation on the dry lands. Farther east, in the Rocky Moun- 

 tain region, western wheat grass, Agropyron occidentale, is 

 grow^n to some extent for hay production. Quack grass, 

 Agropyron repens, is sometimes recommended for hay or 

 pasture, but its numerous running rootstocks make it so 

 difficult to eradicate that it should not be sown where any 



