KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS. 93 



upon the stalk and then falls down or is wafted by the 

 winds to adjacent areas. Under normal conditions the 

 seed thus wafted would seem to have much power to 

 grow. Of this fact evidence is furnished in the almost 

 absolute certainty with which blue grass ultimately 

 takes possession of waste land in a locality into which it- 

 has once been introduced and in which any of the seed 

 is allowed to mature. 



The seed thus scattered must, in great part at least, 

 grow without a covering, hence the plan of growing blue 

 grass seed as soon as practicable after it is gathered, 

 even though it should be sown in the chaff, would seem 

 to be a commendable one. In southern latitudes, there- 

 fore, it would seem to be the better plan to sow blue 

 grass seed in the late summer and early autumn, since 

 in these it is nearly always practicable to sow it at that 

 season. The power which this grass has to grow with- 

 out a covering, especially when it is fresh and sown in 

 the chaff, explains why a stand can usually be obtained 

 with much certainty by cutting the grass like hay as 

 soon as the seed matures and scattering it over the 

 ground where a stand is desired. The hay thus scat- 

 tered affords protection for the young plants that grow 

 from the seeds when they come in contact with the 

 earth. Blue grass has thus been introduced on to sod- 

 bound native prairie where close pasturing has followed 

 this method of scattering the hay. It may be scattered 

 thus from the stack in winter if desired. 



Blue grass is nearly always sown by hand, partly 

 for the reason that but few if any machines yet intro- 

 duced sow it satisfactorily, and also because the danger 



