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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



anticipations of its value, this late addition to our 

 forage plants is destined to be of great advantage, 

 especially 'in the arid regions. The plant is thus de- 

 scribed in a late publication of the department: 

 " Hungarian brome grass (Bromus inermis) is a vig- 

 orous, hardy perennial, with strong creeping root- 

 stocks, smooth, upright, leafy stems one to three feet 

 high, and a loose, open panicle or head. It is a na- 

 tive of Europe, ranging from France eastward into 

 Siberia, and grows along roadsides, river banks, 

 borders of fields and woods, and upon sterile hillsides 

 and pastures." Data collected by the department go 

 to show that the grass is easily propagated, and that 

 it should be especially valuable in the arid belt. It 

 readily establishes itself even on thin, poor soils; and 

 where given anything like a fair chance develops 

 into a luxuriant plant yielding three tons of hay per 

 acre at a cutting. The experiments thus far made 

 show that the plant is adapted to a great variety of 

 soils and climatic conditions, since it thrives well in 

 Canada, as well as in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, 

 California and Mississippi. While appearing to be 

 most at home in light sandy loams, it will also flour- 

 ish very satisfactorily in stiff clays, in each case form- 

 ing a dense, tough sod. It is found to stand long 

 periods of drouth better than any other variety of the 

 cultivated grasses, and will also endure with great 

 fortitude intense cold and extreme heat. 



While this grass may not be able to supplant 

 alfalfa for the irrigable areas, yet it may, upon trial, 

 be found to meet all the conditions of a profitable for- 

 age plant, not only upon irrigated lands but upon 

 those subject to drouth and which do not enjoy facili- 

 ties for irrigation. In any event it is to be hoped that 

 readers of THE IRRIGATION AGE will take steps to 

 fully test the value of Hungarian brome in their sev- 

 eral localities, for any plant that meets the condi- 

 tions of a cheaply produced and nutritious forage is 

 of the highest value to American agriculture. This 

 grass should be cut when first coming into bloom, be- 

 cause if delayed beyond this time the stems, like 

 those of timothy, rapidly become hard and woody 

 and nearly valueless for hay. It is expected, how- 

 ever, that brome will be most highly valued for graz- 

 ing purposes, and in the more southern latitudes it 

 remains green throughout the winter. It gives prom- 

 ise, therefore, of affording good winter pasturage 

 throughout a large area of country, and if this antici- 

 pation shall be fulfilled its general introduction will 

 prove of incalculable benefit to agriculture. About 

 thirty to fifty pounds of seed per acre are sown, and 

 it may be sown in the fall with winter wheat, or in 

 the early spring. Seedsmen in the larger cities can 

 generally supply at least limited quantities of the 

 seed, and it should not be mixed with other grasses, 

 as its strong growth tends to choke out any other grass 

 that maybe sown with it. It is recommended to be 

 sown also along ditches or streams for holding the 

 banks from wash or caving. 



Sing "Hey" the Feathery Plume! Mrs. 



Harriet W. Strong, an enterprising lady residing in 

 Los Angeles county, California, has become well 

 known in the past few years through making a spe- 

 cialty of the introduction and utilization of the pam- 

 pas grass. It was through her efforts that pampas 

 became a feature in the last presidential campaign, 

 and she also originated the pampas plume palace at 

 the World's Fair. Recently she has published arti- 



cles to show that this famous grass is good for very 

 much more than mere ornament. She calls attention 

 to the fact that, on its native plains in South America, 

 it is the food of great herds of fine canle, and claims 

 that it is more nutritious than alfalfa. Horses are 

 said to be very fond of it. It is also claimed that 

 rope may be made from the fiber of its husk, that the 

 beautiful, feathery plumes may be made into a bank- 

 note paper, which water will not destroy, and that 

 the roots may be made into a flour of considerable 

 value as food. 



Every visitor to Southern California has witnessed 

 the remarkable growth this grass makes when set in 

 bunches for ornament, and well irrigated. Mrs. 

 Strong says that on dry uplands it grows to a height 

 of from eighteen to twenty-eight inches; that where 

 it is cut down by frost in the winter it springs up again 

 in the spring, but makes a shorter growth. It has 

 been planted in America as far north as Kentucky for 

 ornament, and plants of it have been grown in Con- 

 necticut; but Mrs. Strong sweepingly declares that it 

 may be grown in every part of the United States. 

 An advocate so enthusiastic ought to be able to de- 

 velop the plant into a valuable addition to the list 

 of irrigating products. 



Feed the Pigs. At this writing, nearly all mar- 

 ket reports show this condition throughout the coun- 

 try: cheap wheat and dear pork. Shrewd farmers 

 will take advantage of this fact and feed as many 

 hogs as possible with the wheat which, marketed in 

 a raw state, will scarcely bring the cost of production. 

 In some sections of the country a sentiment prevails 

 among farmers that it is wrong to feed swine and 

 other stock with the same grains that nourish the 

 children of the family. But all this is purely senti- 

 mental, and has no proper place in the mind of any 

 progressive agriculturist. It is merely a matter of 

 business. All food products are composed of cer- 

 tain chemical ingredients, and one combination of 

 these elements is no more sacred than another. The 

 question of expense and expediency is the only one 

 that can possibly have a place in any business man's 

 mind in this connection. If wheat is the cheapest 

 food for swine, or sheep, or cattle, or turkeys, it should 

 be utilized to the fullest extent for that purpose; and 

 if corn is a cheaper fuel than coal, it may properly be 

 used as such. This is a good year to test fully the 

 advantages of feeding cheap wheat to hogs and other 

 stock. 



Cheap Grain and Costly Fertilizers. Tests 

 made at the Ohio Experiment Station, covering a pe- 

 riod of six years, have demonstrated that wheat and 

 corn, at present prices, cannot be profitably grown 

 by the aid of commercial fertilizers at the current 

 market price for such substances. The experiments 

 referred to appear to demonstrate that good drain- 

 age and thorough cultivation are the necessary pre- 

 liminaries to profitable agriculture in any of its de- 

 partments, and that expensive fertilizers of any kind 

 should be applied to those crops only in whose culti- 

 vation there is some hope of a legitimate profit. The 

 conclusions reached by the experiments with various 

 fertilizers are thus set forth by a bulletin from the 

 station : 



" At present prices of cereal crops arid of fertiliz- 

 ing materials respectively, the profitable production 

 of corn, wheat and oats by the aid of chemical or 



