8 



CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



TRANSPLANTING RUNNERS 



Limited experiments indicate that buffalo grass may be propagated 

 by setting out rooted or unrooted stolons in moist soil. The stolons 

 will take root and grow in much the same manner as strawberry 

 plants under especially favorable moisture conditions. This is a 

 tedious method and will succeed only if the soil is kept moist for 

 some time after the stolons are set out, which is not practical on an 

 extensive scale. 



SOLID SPACING OF SODS 



Covering an entire area with sods at once is practical only for very 

 small areas or where the chief consideration is immediate results 

 without regard to the costs involved. This is accomplished by 

 leveling or smoothly grading the land, laying the sods on the surface 



Figure 5.— A lawn of pure buffalo grass on the Hays Station photographed in 1933, the third year after 

 being started by natural reseeding in excavated soil containing a large amount of native sod. 



of the ground, and snugly fitting them together. Sods used for this 

 purpose should be cut smoothly to a uniform depth of 2 to 4 inches. 

 Although strips of buffalo grass may be successfully cut to a depth 

 of an inch or less, it has been impossible at Hays to roll up and move 

 such strips like a carpet, as is done with other turf grasses in the 

 Eastern States. Unsuccessful attempts have been made at different 

 times to 10II up thin strips of buffalo grass under varying moisture 

 conditions. Even when the heavy clay-loam soil at this station was 

 thoroughly wet, the sods could not be rolled up without breaking 

 into numerous pieces and severely injuring the roots. There may be 

 soils in the buffalo-grass region where this could be accomplished, and, 

 if so, the task of sodding would be simplified. 



