10 CIRCULAR 328, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



throughout the central Great Plains. Most of these areas contain a 

 small mixture of grama grass, which is not very objectionable. Under 

 natural conditions buffalo grass occurs in mixtures of about, equal 

 numbers of staminate and pistillate plants with occasional patches 

 consisting of pure stands of one sex. The exclusive use of pistillate 

 plants for lawn purposes is preferable. A lawn composed of such 

 plants with leaves wholly covering the stems is much more attrac- 

 tive than a lawn containing staminate plants. While the brown 

 spikelets of the latter are not wholly unattractive, they rise above 

 the leaves and detract from the green appearance of the lawn. 



CUTTING THE SODS 



The best procedure in cutting sod is to use a sod cutter which 

 disturbs the roots less than a plow and makes a smooth clean cut 

 which facilitates the handling and transplanting operations. A 

 satisfactory sod cutter may be constructed with comparative ease 

 and at little expense by bolting a sharpened U-shaped flat steel 

 blade on sled runners or frames similar to those on a walking plow. 

 A series of holes bored in the vertical ends of the blade to which 

 sliders are attached allows for adjusting the depth of the cut. The 

 blade should be shaped so as to cut a strip of sod about 12 inches 

 wide. When the soil is well moistened by heavy rains one team of 

 horses can pull a 12-inch sod cutter with ease. Where it is desired 

 to cut the sods in strips narrower than 12 inches, rolling colters or 

 vertical knives similar to the fins on a crowning plow may be fastened 

 to the U-shaped blade, so that 2 or 3 strips, 4 to 6 inches wide, may 

 be cut with one operation. These strips usually are cut with a sharp 

 spade into the final size desired before loading for transporting. 

 Figure 7 shows a satisfactory hand-made sod cutter that cuts two 

 strips 6 inches wide at one operation. 



Cutting the sods in strips alternating with uncut areas allows the 

 buffalo grass to spread and rapidly heal the scars of furrows left by 

 the cutter. At Hays the vacant strips left in the sod in the spring of 

 the year usually are re-covered with grass by the end of the first season. 

 If it is desired to maintain the original smooth surface, the furrows may 

 be filled with fresh soil, taking care to leave no heavy deposit of soil on 

 the adjoining uncut areas. A few years after this is done, it is 

 impossible to see where the sods had been removed. If the sod is 

 obtained from sloping land, it is important to cut the strips on the 

 contour to control erosion. Observance of these precautions will 

 encourage the owners of buffalo-grass grazing land to provide sods to 

 those who otherwise would be unable to resod their cultivated land. 



RATE OF TRANSPLANTING 



The amount of sod required to transplant an acre depends upon the 

 manner in which the work is done. Ari acre of cultivated land when 

 transplanted with 4-inch cubes spaced 3 feet apart requires about 2 

 square rods of original sod or a strip 12 inches wide and 538 feet long. 

 Four and one-half times that amount, or about 9 square rods, are re- 

 quired when the cubes are spaced 2 feet apart and 9 times that 

 amount, or 18 square rods, when the sods are spaced 1 foot apart. 

 Double broadcasting with a common manure spreader requires the 



