10 CIRCULAR 491, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



boxes, making a 7-inch drill with alternate chutes for drilling and 

 broadcasting simultaneously (fig. 2). 



By placing a suitable agitator in a common grain drill, the Soil 

 Conservation Service at Dalhart, Tex., developed a satisfactory 

 method of drilling blue grama. In 1935 a satisfactory stand of blue 

 grama was obtained at Hays, Kans., by forcing the light seeds 

 through a common grain drill with a mixture of sand which caused 

 some wear on the drill mechanism. This stand was still surviving 

 early in 1938. 



Planting grasses in rows may be satisfactory for such species as 

 bluestem (western wheatgrass) which spreads rapidly by vegetative 

 means. J. F. Brandon, Superintendent, United States Dry Land Field 

 Station, Akron, Colo., successfully established this grass by transplant- 

 ing it on fallow land in the spring, in rows spaced 3 feet apart, and 



Figure 2. — A planter-type grass drill designed and constructed at Woodward, 

 Okla., showing seed being broadcast from the front row of boxes and drilled 

 shallow from the rear. Note the protective crop residue on this seedbed of 

 disked Sudan grass stubble. 



cultivating most of the first season to control soil blowing, subdue 

 weeds, and enable the plants to become well established. Cultivation 

 was suspended near the end of the first season and the vigorous root- 

 stalks had spread to cover the intervening spaces by the end of two 

 more seasons. Clean-tilled land blows so readily that clean tilling is 

 considered a poor method of preparation unless the plantings are made 

 as indicated above and cultivated to control blowing, or seeded in 

 the fall and protected by lister furrows or rows of Sudan grass. 

 Western wheatgrass may be planted in rows on Sudan grass stubble 

 land. This reduces the cost of seed and is fairly successful if the 

 seed is placed in contact with moisture. Cultivation should not be 

 necessary to control soil blowing on dense stubble land and may be 

 dispensed with if the land is reasonably clean and free from weeds. 



