from the acre planting during the winter of 1962-1963, and about 60,000 

 three-stem plants from the seeded bed. Tests the following year indicated 

 that plants produced in either manner were equally satisfactory when trans- 

 planted to the dunes. 



It was concluded, however, that for nursery establishment, vegetative 

 propagation was more practical than propagation by seed due to the weed 

 problem. Quite satisfactory control can usually be obtained in vegetative 

 plantings with one early spring application of weed killer, while seeded 

 beds must be fumigated. 



Although all of the planting stock was harvested from the original 

 nursery planting in the winter of 1962-1963, the rhizomes remaining in the 

 soil resulted in a solid stand the following year. It appears that a full 

 harvest of planting stock can be expected each year from a nursery area of 

 this kind, provided adequate fertilizer is supplied and weeds are controlled. 

 Where planting stock is not harvested for a year or two, the buildup of dead 

 material makes processing difficult. For this reason it may be cheaper to 

 start over on a new area every second or third year. 



This grass appears to tolerate a fairly wide range of soils and present 

 information seems to be adequate for outlining procedures for practical and 

 rather inexpensive nursery production. 



b. Sea Oats 



As recently as 10 years ago, reputable scientists were saying that 

 sea oats did not produce viable seeds. This observation apparently arose 

 from the fact that sea oat seeds usually have a very pronounced dormancy 

 period. However, seedlings have been observed occurring naturally on the 

 Banks for several years, and in 1964, Wagner (7) published the results of 

 a study in which he followed the germination of sea oats in some detail 

 both on the dunes and in the greenhouse. 



In the winter of 1963-1964, we undertook some limited tests on seed 

 harvested in the fall of 1963. After trying several of the conventional 

 procedures for breaking seed dormancy, it was found that a fair response 

 could be obtained by soaking the threshed seed overnight in a gibberilic 

 acid solution of 100 parts per million. Using this procedure, two beds 

 were seeded in the nursery in April 1964 and several thousand plants were 

 produced . 



Unfortunately, growth in late summer was hampered materially by an 

 attack of a "helmi nthosporum-l i ke" organism, as yet unidentified. This 

 was followed during the winter by damage from bill bugs and a stem maggot 

 similar to the Hessian fly. Plants transplanted to the Banks in December 

 and January survived and grew well; later transplants having more insect 

 damage did not do as well. 



A few hundred plants were separated and transplanted into nursery 

 rows in the spring of 1965. Although survival was poor due to the previous 



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