196 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



sheaths hairy; divaricatus with triangular pyramidal 

 panicles and small spikelets ; pauciflorus with small 3-4- 

 flowered spikelets ; and aristatus with the lemma short- 



awned. Very closely 

 related but perhaps 

 distinct is Bromus 

 Reimanni with short 

 leaves and small 

 panicles. 



211. Agricultural 

 history. - - Brome- 

 grass was first culti- 

 vated, according to 

 Schreber, in 1769 as 

 a pasture grass. It 

 is not, however, an 

 important grass in 

 Europe, being grown 

 mainly in Hungary 

 and Russia. 



It was introduced 

 into the United States 

 prior to 1884 by the 

 California Experi- 

 ment Station. It 



FIG. 20. Brome-grass (Bromus incrmis) . has met with most 

 a, spikelet; b, floret, dorsal view ; c, floret, f avor m the region 



west of the 95th 



meridian and north of latitude 36, especially as a grass 

 for unirrigated lands. In North and South Dakota 

 and in the Columbia Basin brome-grass attained con- 

 siderable prominence, but in recent years its cultiva- 

 tion has slowly diminished. More of it has been 



