or sloping land you should use shorter runs than can be used on heavy soil 

 or natter land. Provide plenty of moisture to keep the young grass growing 

 all the time. 



Established Stands 



Established stands do not need as frequent irrigations as new seedings. 

 Determine the need for irrigation by examining the soil to an 8-inch depth 

 in a number of places in the field. Water penetrates faster on old stands 

 than on new stands. You will be using enough water when you get a pene- 

 tration 2 feet deep. Uniform irrigation helps you to get uniform ripening 

 of the crop over the entire field. Overuse of water reduces the benefit of 

 your nitrogen-fertilizer application. Such overuse costs you money in 

 both wasted fertilizer and irrigation water. 



Your grass stand needs from 2 to 4 irrigations before harvest. Irrigate 

 after harvest frequently enough to prevent drought injury to the stand. 

 Late fall irrigations help prevent drought injury during winter and provide 

 moisture for early spring growth. Early spring is a critical period in grass 

 seed production. Drought at this time reduces seed yields. In a dry 

 spring the grass may suffer from drought before irrigation water is available 

 in canals. If you have an irrigation well you can prevent this injury. 



There will be different stages of maturity in a single seed head. Irrigat- 

 ing when the first seeds start to ripen may be detrimental. Too much soil 

 moisture causes a delay in the date of ripening. As the moisture is reduced 

 the seed matures rapidly. This may cause a high loss from shattering before 

 the entire field can be harvested. 



HARVESTING AND THRESHING 



Binding the grass crop on irrigated land is the surest and best way to 

 harvest seed (fig. 2). Grasses shatter more readily on irrigated land than 

 on nonirrigated land. This is caused by an increase in ash content of the 

 plant on irrigated land. If you allow the seed crop to mature enough to 

 combine, there is danger of wind or other storms knocking out most of 

 the seed. Combined grass seed contains too much moisture for safe storage. 

 Grasses ripen rapidly and must be harvested within a relatively short time. 

 Check the crop frequently when it starts to mature. 



Save seed by equipping your binder with pans to catch seed that shatters 

 in harvesting (fig. 3). Place the pans at the end of the platform draper 

 and at the elevator draper. You may also use a canvas on the bundle 

 carrier or replace the bundle carrier with a box or slip to catch seed shattered 

 on the tying platform. Although you will have to remove the bundles by 

 hand where the crop is very ripe, it will pay you to do this extra work. 



Bind your crop in the firm dough stage and have it mature in the shock 

 the same as any of the small-grain crops. Almost any kind of thresher 

 adjusted properly will do a satisfactory job of threshing grass. Follow the 

 recommendations in the book accompanying your combine or thresher to 

 get satisfactory results. A machine with a rub-bar cylinder is best. 



Guard against overfeeding the thresher. Grass seeds do not separate as 

 rapidly as heavier grains. Too fast feeding causes excessive loss in the 

 straw pile. Some growers rerun the straw piles, but if the machine is 

 operated correctly the first time, rethreshing does not pay. 



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