GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 55 



somewhat weak and flaccid, often decumbent at the lower joints, 

 very profusely branched. Sheaths shorter than the internodes, 

 the ligule a ring of short hairs ; blades three 

 to ten inches long, a quarter-inch to a half- 

 inch wide, flat. Panicles three to ten inches 

 long, with many spreading branches, densely 

 flowered, grayish green. Spikelets ten- to 

 forty-flowered, the florets closely imbricated, 

 the glumes acute and keeled. Seeds reddish, 

 very small, when ripe dropping readily from 

 the spikelets and seeding the soil for the crop 

 of the next year; a common impurity of 

 timothy and other small grass seeds. (Fig. 25.) 



Means of control 



Small areas, in yards, roadsides, and waste 

 places, should be hoe-cut or hand-pulled 

 while the grass is in first bloom. Hay from 

 rankly infested meadows, though not so 

 strong-scented as the green grass, is wiry 

 and weedy, and of such inferior quality that 

 it is most profitable when turned under the 

 ground for the purpose of fertilizing a better 

 crop. 



CHESS OR CHEAT 



Bromus secallnus, L. Fia 2 5. Stink- 



Other English names: Wheat-thief, Williard's Grass (Eragrostis me- 



Brome Grass. gastachya). x *. 



Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom : June to July. 

 Seed-time: July to August. 



Range: Throughout North America wherever grain is grown. 

 Habitat: Grain fields, waste places. 



Probably the first settler who planted a wheat field in America 

 sowed some seeds of Chess with it and the practice still continues. 

 Some farmers believed that wheat changed into Chess as it grew, 

 but it is needless to say that such a miracle never happened. The 



