134 

 produces a large stolon-root mass which is capable of retaining sig- 

 nificant quantities of nutrients. While there were nc differences in 

 the total mass of the stolon-root system, significant differences were 

 found in the S concentration of the tissues (Table 30) . Plots which 

 had no S applied accumulated an average of 30 kg/ha of S while those 

 which received 40 kg/ha/yr of fertilizer S accumulated over 42 kg/ha 

 of S during the 2-year study. These values would have been somewhat 

 higher if the root system below the sampling depth had been collected 

 and analyzed. 



The N:S ratio was surprisingly low in both the bahiagrass and ber- 

 mudagrass tissues during both years of the study. The highest ratios 

 were associated with the high N and no S plots in 1979. These values 

 averaged 14.0 and 12.9, respectively, for the bahiagrass and bermuda- 

 grass. The low N:S ratios indicated an accumulation of sulfate 

 although sulfate S in the tissues was not determined. All of the 

 values reported in Tables 26, 27, 31, and 32 were below or near the 

 critical N:S ratio of 14 reported by Metson (1973) for gramineous 

 plants and within or below the normal N: S ratio of 12 to 17 reported by 

 Woodhouse (1969) for bermudagrass . The stolon-root system also con- 

 tained similar N:S ratios. 

 9.2 SULFUR IN BERMUDAGRASS ON A KENDRICK FINE SAND 



Bermudagrass yields on a Kendrick fine sand averaged 68% of the 

 bahiagrass yields on the Myakka soil in 1978. However, yields in 1979 

 varied less than 10% between the sites (15,400 kg/ha of bahiagrass and 

 14,400 kg/ha of bermudagrass). The Kendrick fine sand is a better- 

 drained soil than the Myakka. The Coastcross I bermudagrass suffered 

 severe damage during the winter months, initiated growth later in the 



