GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 55 
somewhat weak and flaccid, often decumbent at the lower joints, 
very profusely branched. Sheaths shorter than the intemodes, 
the ligule a ring of short hairs; blades three 
to ten inches long, a quarter-inch to a half- 
inch wide, flat. Panicles three to ten inches 
long, with many spreading branches, densely 
flowered, grayish green. Spikelets ten- to 
forty-flowered, the florets closely imbricated, 
the glumes acute and keeled. Seeds reddish, 
very small, when ripe dropping readily from 
the spikelets and seeding the soil for the crop 
of the next year; a common impurity of 
timothy and other small grass seeds. (Fig. 25.) 
Means of control 
Small areas, in yards, roadsides, and waste 
places, should be hoe-cut or hand-pulled 
while the grass is in first bloom. Hay from 
rankly infested meadows, though not so 
strong-scented as the green grass, is wiry 
and weedy, and of such inferior quality that 
it is most profitable when turned under the 
ground for the purpose of fertilizing a better 
crop. 
CHESS OR CHEAT 
Bromus secalinus, L. Fie. 25. — Stink- 
. ‘ et ‘WWiard’cg Grass (Hragrostis me- 
alee ee ee Wheat-thief, Williard’s Guia. ok 
Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. ; i. 
Range: Throughout North America wherever grain is grown. 
Habitat: Grain fields, waste places. 
Probably the first settler who planted a wheat field in America 
sowed some seeds of Chess with it and the practice still continues. 
Some farmers believed that wheat changed into Chess as it grew, 
but it is needless to say that such a miracle never happened. The 
