256 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



times, if cut when it is two feet high or less. It should not 

 be allowed to bloom, as the stems are rather hard and 

 woody. 



Guinea-grass is not well adapted for hay on account of 

 its bunch habit, but this is much less pronounced when it is 

 grown thickly. The seeds shatter promptly as they 

 mature, but can be secured by cutting off the panicles 

 before they are fully mature and curing in the shade. 



This grass may be propagated by root divisions, or 

 seedlings may be grown and then transplanted. The best 

 results are secured when the grass is planted in rows 5 or 6 

 feet wide and 3 feet apart in the row, so that it can be 

 cultivated. Thus planted it will yield an enormous 

 amount of green matter, probably more than any other 

 similar grass. Guinea-grass is killed when the tempera- 

 ture reaches about 18 F. 



306. Rescue-grass (Bromus unioloides), also known as 

 Schrader's brome-grass, Arctic-grass, Australian brome 

 and Australian oats, is native to Argentina, but was early 

 introduced in the Southern States, where it now appears 

 spontaneously in many places. The first definite record 

 of its introduction is 1853, in which year it was advertised 

 and highly praised by B. V. Iverson of Columbus, Georgia, 

 who apparently first used the name rescue-grass. 



Rescue-grass is a short-lived perennial, but under cul- 

 tivation behaves practically as an annual. It commonly 

 grows to a height of 2J or 4 feet, the culms terminated by a 

 large, open, somewhat drooping panicle. 



It is naturally adapted to humid regions of mild winters, 

 springing up in the fall, growing through the yvinter and 

 maturing in early summer. It does not make much 

 growth on poor land, but on rich soils is probably the best 

 grass for temporary winter pastures in the South. On such 



