4 LEAFLET 2 15, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Highly Nutritious and Palatable and a Soil Binder 



Blue grama is greatly relished by livestock throughout the year. 

 Although under favorable conditions it cures well on the stalk, about 

 half of its nutritive value is lost in curing — and still more when growth 

 is halted by frost rather than by drought. Studies by the New 

 Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station show that blue grama com- 

 pares favorably with timothy hay in amount of protein, is high in 

 calcium, and has a moderate phosphorus content. Both of these 

 minerals are important in the prevention of such diseases as creeps, 

 bone chewing, and brittle bones. Tests by the Arizona Agricultural 

 Experiment Station reveal that during the summer growing period 

 when the herbage is green and succulent, blue grama is very rich in 

 vitamin A but that it becomes rapidly poorer in this respect with 

 maturity and may be deficient after curing. 



Figure 1. — An excellent stand of blue grama on a sheep driveway in the Coconino 

 National Forest, in northern Arizona. 



On ranges where it is the dominant plant (fig. 1), blue grama 

 usually constitutes 75 to 90 percent of the feed, and where blue and 

 black gramas occur together it is usually preferred by livestock. 



Blue grama withstands trampling well, although it does not equal 

 buffalograss in this respect. It is a 60- to 80-day grass, requiring 

 relatively high temperatures and average moisture for best growth, 

 and ordinarily maturing in late September and early October. It is 

 relatively drought-resistant but fluctuates in density with climatic 

 variations — losing during a single dry year as much as 40 percent. 

 When little or no rain falls during the usual growing season, it remains 

 practically dormant. Slight growth is made from winter moisture; 

 consequently blue grama furnishes little or no green feed during the 

 spring, when succulent forage is especially needed. 



Blue grama, if utilized properly, has great soil-protective value and 

 under the best conditions will completely cover the soil surface (fig. 1). 

 The dense fibrous roots, formed mainly in the upper 18-inch soil layer 



