194 THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



243. How grasses increase in number. Grasses have three 

 ways of multiplying : by means of seeds ; by underground stems, 

 rootstocks, or bulbs ; and by stems or stolons which grow along 

 the surface of the ground. Among the important grasses that 

 spread in two or more ways are blue grass, Bermuda grass, buffalo 

 grass (Fig. 91), brome grass, and redtop. Some other impor- 

 tant grasses grow in bunches and send out new shoots from the 



FIG. 91. Buffalo grass (Bulbilis Dactyloides} 



From the nodes or joints of the runner new plants have developed ; the old plant has 

 also produced new shoots at its base, and new plants are thus established 



parent plant. Timothy, for example, sends out new shoots from 

 its bulbs, and these in turn form bulbs from which other plants 

 are produced (Fig. 92). This process of multiplying may be 

 repeated several times in a single season if the stand is thin 

 and if the weather is favorable. This explains why a thin stand 

 in the spring may thicken by midsummer without reseeding 

 the meadow. The underground rootstocks and bulbs serve also 

 as storehouses for the reserve food of the plant, just as the 



