RUSSIAN BROME GRASS. 183 



grass is not worth saving. This should not be done 

 hastily or without the most careful examination, as, if 

 the plants are present in reasonable numbers, even 

 though small, the reti^rn the next year may prove quite 

 satisfactory. 



Pasturing. — The value of Russian brome grass for 

 pasture will depend in a great measure, on the favorable 

 or unfavorable character of the conditions for growing 

 the grass. On northwestern prairies, it will furnish 

 much more grazing relatively than the native grasses of 

 the prairie, and probably more than any of the other 

 cultivated varieties. In southern areas it would seem 

 to be less valuable relatively, but in these its relative 

 adaptation for pasture has not been generally proved. 

 It is probable, however, that in these it will lose its suc- 

 culence in prolonged periods of dry and hot weather, as 

 it does on certain of the western ranges until awakened 

 by the autumn rains. 



This grass will stand close grazing better than many 

 other grasses, because of its inherent vigor, and the 

 character of the root growth, but, as with these, it will 

 yield much more pasture when it is not closely grazed. 

 In some instances, especially on sandy land, it has been 

 known to receive serious injury through excessive pas- 

 turing, and more especially when grazed thus the same 

 year that the seed was sown. Ordinarily, however, it 

 has much power to stand close grazing without suc- 

 cumbing. The aftermath in meadows is also much 

 more abundant than from many other grasses, hence it 

 is common to graze it down, but, when thus grazed, the 

 effect will doubtless be to lessen the return from the hay 



