186 Bulletin 138, Rhodes Grass 



inating quality. It seeded abundantly and the seed is harvested 

 quite readily tho not as easily as the seed of timothy and some 

 other good hay grasses. It would seem possible for persons 

 located in regions where this grass grows readily to produce, 

 profitably, all the seed needed. No difficulty has been en- 

 countered so far in the matter of producing and saving the 

 seed. It matures quite uniformly in the head and holds fairly 

 well against shattering. The grass with ripened seed may be 

 cut and bound into convenient sized bundles. This is then 

 cured in the most convenient way. After the bundles have been 

 thoroly dried the seed can be easily beaten out. This way of 

 saving seed will suffice for experimental test, but for commer- 

 cial purposes machinery will have to be used to eliminate much 

 of the costly hand labor. 



Mr. E. W. Amsden, of Ormond, wrote us on November 4, 

 1912, that he cut a piece 40 by 60 feet, from which he got 

 fourteen sheaves. From two of these sheaves he pounded out 

 an eight-quart pan level full of seed, weighing from a pound to 

 a pound and a half- An acre at this rate would have yielded 

 over one hundred pounds of seed. These figures are based on 

 too limited data to be made a basis of calculation, but serve in 

 a general way as an index of what may be expected under 

 favorable conditions. The imported seed, received mainly from 

 Australia, has been sold at $1.00 to $1.50 per pound. The seed 

 is very light, weighing only about 7% pounds per bushel. 



YIELD OF HAY 



Very large yields of hay were secured during the summer 

 of 1912. The very low germinating quality of the seed sown in 

 1913 has greatly discouraged the extensive planting of this grass. 



Reports of enormous yields have been published from time 

 to time. It has been sufficiently tested to show that much larger 

 yields of Rhodes grass hay can be produced annually in Florida 

 than is possible from grass in the hay-producing states. "There 

 are authentic reports of total yields per season of six tons per 

 acre of well-cured hay secured from three cuttings, the first 

 cutting being made in May, the second in July, and the third 

 in September." (Yearbook, 1912, page 498, U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



In South Florida on the drained lands it has made an especi- 

 ally fine showing as a forage and hay grass. In some instances 

 extremely large yields of hay have been produced. The cold 

 weather in this region is rarely sufficient to damage it and in 



