Bromus Inermis. 
5 
good quantity of seed the second year, after which the sowing may 
be extended with small expense. 
The grass has done well and is very useful here. There seems 
no reason why it should not do well elsewhere. 
TESTS ON THE GROUNDS OF THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 
On May 17th, 1894, two plats of land comprising one and a fourth acres were 
sown at the rate of 16 pounds to the acre. This soil was a sandy, clay loam of 
such a composition as to have been, in its natural state, practically sterile. Ow¬ 
ing to its location being such as to render it very difficult to irrigate, it had Deen 
allowed to remain untilled. The land was broken up and gotten in as good con¬ 
dition as possible by aid of disk harrow and roller and the seed covered in fairly 
good shape. It was irrigated once the first season and made a very poor stand, 
thickening a little the following spring, and finally at the end of four seasons, 
made a complete stand, since then producing an abundance of foliage or pasture, 
but was never allowed to head until the past season, when it produced fifteen 
bushels of seed. 
Another acre was sown on May 25th, 1896, on heavy clay soil and was treated 
as to irrigation in exactly the same manner as contiguous plats of alfalfa. This 
plat made an excellent stand from the first and made and produced a crop of 
seed the second season. 
April 9th, 1897, a pasture mixture, composed of barley, rye, oats, sandwicke 
and brome grass was sown on a small plat of ground for sheep pasture. When 
sheep were removed, bromus was the only crop to recover. Adjoining this plat, 
the following spring Bromus inermis was sown on about one acre of ground. It 
was endeavored to sow the seed with an ordinary grain drill. Various substan¬ 
ces, as bran and dry soil, were mixed with the brome grass seed to give it sufficient 
weight to feed through the drill. It was found to be impracticable and the drill 
was discarded. After sowing, furrows were made about this plat so that one- 
fourth of the plat would not be watered when the rest was irrigated. The stand 
on this part was never quite so good as on the balance of the plat, though it was 
so good that a casual observer would not notice the difference. This lot has been 
pastured for three years with sheep. As there was always more sheep than the 
pasture would support, the grass was eaten close to the ground several times each 
year, i. e., when it was eaten so close that there seemed to be nothing left, the 
sheep were removed and when water was to be had it was turned on this pasture 
plat. In every instance the grass came up quickly and when a few inches high 
sheep were turned on again. 
This same season another acre plat was sown for pasture. This soil was very 
heavy clay, probably as near an approach to regular “gumbo” as could be readily 
found in this vicinity. An excessive amount of work was necessary in order to 
get this land in shape for seeding. This however was accomplished and an ex¬ 
cellent stand was the result. It was irrigated the first two seasons. 
The first season after sowing, the grass having a good start in May, six ewes 
and their half grown lambs were turned on for pasture. It supported this num¬ 
ber for about six weeks, when the grass being eaten down very close, the sheep 
were kept off and fed for a couple of weeks, in which time the grass recuperated 
and the sheep were turned on again. This plan was repeated twice more during 
the season, and in October the ground seemed as bare and nearly as hard as an 
ordinary road bed. The following spring, however, the brome grass made its ap¬ 
pearance in March and with the same treatment each year is still thriving and 
furnishing as much pasture, to all appearance, as at first. 
May first, 1899, two acres adjoining the above plat were sown. The ground 
had been covered during the winter with a very thick coat of coarse manure, so 
thick was it in fact that owing to the gumbo quality of the land and its persistent 
sticking to the plow, only about half the manure was covered up, the rest sticking 
out and producing a very unfavorable condition of seed bed. The seed was sown 
however, and covered as well as might be. This land became very dry and it 
was not thought possible that any of the seed could germinate. After all the 
other crops on the farm had been irrigated there came an opportunity to run the 
water on this piece, which was done. At the end of that season a few spears of 
brome grass were visible, but they were so few that it was thought the plat was 
