RHODES GRASS 



BY P. H. ROLFS 



The value of this grass was discovered by Cecil Rhodes, 

 whose name it bears. This was about 1895, at Cape Town, 

 South Africa. March 8, 1903, Messrs. Lathrop and Fairchild 

 secured a small quantity of the seed and forwarded it to the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. At that time Dr. Fairchild 

 wrote, " The grass has done well there [Mr Rhodes' farm near 

 Cape Town] forming a heavy sod of good herbage, and the 

 manager of Mr. Rhodes' farm has had the seed collected and 

 distributed among the planters of the colony, by whom it is 

 called * Rhodes Grass '. From what I saw of these patches on 

 the slopes of a hillside, I do not believe it is a drought resistant 

 form; at least it is not able to withstand very severe dry 

 weather. * * * it need be tested only in the f restless or nearly 

 frostless regions." This seems to have been the first time this 

 grass seed was brought into the United States and tested for 

 forage purposes. 



TESTING AT THE EXPERIMENT STATION 



In 1909 a larger amount of seed was obtained by the Office 

 of Seed and Plant Introduction. On April 6 of that year a 

 small packet of about an ounce was sent to the Experiment 

 Station by Prof. C. V. Piper, Agrostologist, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. On April 12, 1909, one-half of this seed was sown 

 in a flat in the greenhouse. On April 15 the seedlings were 

 showing above the ground. On April 28 these seedlings were 

 transplanted to the grass garden. The other half of the seed 

 was sown directly in the grass garden on April 15. On May 5 

 these were coming up and by June 5 some plants were 6 inches 

 tall. On July 2, 1909, both rows were sending up seed stalks 

 and were about equally vigorous. On August 3 seed had 

 ripened and was saved- The grass at this time was about 4 

 feet tall. No cuttings were made from these plots, as it was 

 desired to get as much seed as possible. On December 10, 1909, 

 the temperature went down to 28 F. The grass passed thru 

 this without injury. During the latter part of December the 

 temperature went down to 17 F., and all the leaves were killed 

 to the ground. February 4, 1910, green shoots began to come 

 out and by April 5 it had recovered sufficiently to make good 

 grazing. The first cutting was made June 26, when the stalks 



