more productive, start growth earlier in the spring, and seem to be slightly 

 more resistant to leaf diseases. 



Until recently, most of the breeding work in the United States with 

 bromegrass has been done in the Mid-west. Within the past few years, 

 several states in the Northeast have initiated breeding programs. Several 

 varieties are now available, and a number of new strains are being tested. 



Many farmers have had difficulty in obtaining satisfactory stands of 

 bromegrass. This is partially due to the light, chaffy seeds which are difficult 

 to sow at the proper depth. A firm seed bed with 1/4- to V2-hich cover- 

 age is recommended. Excellent results have recently been obtained with the 

 cultipacker-type seeders. 



Materials and Methods 



The New Hampshire Station has tested a number of new strains of 

 bromegrass developed at Cornell for the Northeast. The first test was seeded 

 on the Whenal farm at Greenland. New Hampshire, on August 15. 1950. 

 The soil and preparation for planting were the same as indicated for the 

 alfalfa test. Six New York strains with the two check varieties, Lincoln 

 and Canadian commercial, were seeded alone in three replications and 

 with Ranger alfalfa in three replications. Seeding rate was: 15 pounds 

 per acre for bromegrass alone, and 12 pounds of bromegrass with 8 pounds 

 of alfalfa in the mixture. 



During 1951 and 1952, two harvests were made per year on approximate- 

 ly June 15 and August 20. All plots were top-dressed twice each year, 

 once in early spring and after the first harvest. Approximately 600 pounds 

 per acre of 10-10-10 were applied at each top-dressing on the brome plots 

 and 600 pounds of 5-10-10 on the mixture. 



The second bromegrass test was seeded on a Worthington soil at the 

 Coffin Field at Colebrook, New Hampshire, on May 28. 1952. Potatoes had 

 been grown the previous year in this area. Approximately 2i/o tons of lime- 

 stone and 500 pounds of 5-10-10 per acre were applied at seeding. 



Eight varieties of southern type bromegrass and two of northern type. 

 Parkland and Canadian commercial, were included in this test. The design 

 was a split plot with three plots of each variety seeded to bromegrass and 

 three to a mixture of bromegrass and Ladino clover. The bromegrass was 

 seeded at 15 pounds per acre alone and at 12 pounds in the mixture with 

 2 pounds of Ladino Clover. Harvests were made twice each year during 

 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956 on approximately June 30 and August 20. 

 Two top-dressings were applied each year, once in early spring and after 

 the first harvest. The rate of each top-dressing was approximately 500 

 pounds per acre of 10-10-10 on the grass plots and 500 pounds of 8-16-16 

 on the mixture. In both tests, botanical separations were made on all plots 

 after each harvest to determine the percentage of grass and legume, and to 

 eliminate the weeds from the yield estimates. 



Experimental Results and Discussion 



Yields are given in Table 3 for the bromegrass test at Greenland. It can 

 be seen that strain B was superior to any other strain tested. This strain 

 produced 724 pounds more than the better check variety, Lincoln. The 

 average yield of Canadian commercial was about 1.100 pounds less than 

 Lincoln. 



