202 FOE AGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



of 98-99 per cent, and a viability of 90-95 per cent. 

 Germination tests should continue 14 days. 



The seed weighs 12 to 20 pounds to the bushel. One 

 pound contains 137,000 seeds, according to Stebler. 



222. Pasture value. Brome-grass is better adapted 

 for pasture purposes than for hay. Under semi-arid con- 

 ditions in the Northwest, brome-grass is without question 

 the best pasture grass for cultivated lands yet discovered. 

 Its ability to withstand drought is as great as that of 

 alfalfa. Other characters that emphasize its pasture 

 value, especially on sandy lands, are its sod producing 

 habit, which enables it to withstand trampling and pre- 

 vents uprooting. 



Comparative tests have shown that it is one of the most 

 palatable of all grasses, cattle grazing upon it in preference 

 even to blue-grass. It begins to grow very early in the 

 spring and continues growth into late fall. After frost 

 the leaves become purplish, but the grass does not seem to 

 lose in palatability. 



At the North Dakota Experiment Station brome-grass 

 cut five times during the season yielded 5538 pounds of 

 green grass against 4682 pounds for timothy. 



223. Mixtures. Several mixtures with brome-grass 

 have been employed and are especially satisfactory in 

 that they tend to delay the sod-bound condition. Timothy 

 has been most used in mixtures, but alfalfa, red clover, 

 orchard-grass, slender wheat-grass and meadow fescue 

 have also been found desirable. At the Indian Head, 

 Saskatchewan, Experimental Farm, a mixture of brome- 

 grass and slender wheat-grass has proven particularly 

 desirable. 



224. Variability. Brome-grass, like most other grasses, 

 shows a wide range of variability in desirable character- 



