BREEDERS, GROWERS, DISTRIBUTORS 9 
GRASSES 
NATIVE AND INTRODUCED SPECIES FOR RANGE, PASTURE AND TURF 
Grasses form the most important family of plants, including cereals, bamboos, a host of pasture, 
forage, hay and silage plants; sugarcane and numerous ornamentals; dye, drug and fiber spe- 
cies. Their significance is not confined to agriculture but extends into horticulture, forestry, 
range management, soil conservation, wildlife management and other fields. The value of 
hundreds of grass species yet remains to be explored, a prodigious but necessary task, con- 
sidering their potential value. 
Of the approximately 550 native species of grasses growing in Texas, only a relatively small 
number have been found desirable for grassland agriculture. For the past 10 years, experi- 
mental work has been carried on to find the best species and strains for range and pasture 
seeding. We have assisted State and Federal agencies in this work and have endeavored to 
bring seed of the desirable plants, as listed hereunder, to the rancher and farmer. 
These grasses have proved their efficiency in controlling wind and water erosion, improving 
soil structure, providing wildlife food and cover; and increasing the carrying capacity and 
lengthening the grazing period of ranges and pastures. 
In Texas alone there are millions of acres of formerly excellent range land now so depleted that 
they must be reseeded to return them to their former state of usefulness. This can best be 
done by using proven species adapted to the different soil types, altitudes, rainfall areas, tem- 
perature variations, and general climatic conditions. 
Overgrazing or other misuse of range lands has caused great areas to be invaded by brush and 
other weedy plants. Millions of dollars have been spent on brush eradication but it cannot be 
permanently controlled except by the competition of other plants, particularly the hardy 
perennial grasses. Such undesirable weeds as bitter weed, broomweed and western ragweed in 
pasture and range lands can only be controlled successfully by using competitive grasses. 
In grassland farming, species must be used which are aggressive, deep-rooted, resistant to 
drought and erosion, and productive of good seed and a maximum amount of nutritious, palat- 
able forage. Yet these grasses should be easily and quickly eradicable so that the farmer can 
by plowing return his land to cultivated crops. Many of the grasses listed below, especially 
the deep-rooted perennial bunch grasses, are adapted to grassland farming. 
As new grasses are found that fit into the agricultural economy of the Southwest, Associated 
Seeds, Inc. will make them available to the user. 
ALTA FESCUE Festuca elatior var. arundinacea 
A deep-rooted, tufted, long-lived perennial grass having numerous dark green basal 
leaves which are broader and coarser than meadow fescue. It has comparatively few seed 
stalks, heads branched, and seeds are borne three to five in a spikelet. Adapted to a wide 
range of soil and moisture conditions but best on fertile, moist, rather heavy soils. 
ANGLETON Andropogon annularis 
A perennial bunch grass introduced from India about twenty years ago. Similar to other 
bluestem grasses but distinguished from them by a hairy ring at each node. A light 
seeder, believed for a long time to produce no seed. May be propagated by runners or 
seed. Adapted to a wide variety of soils and is drought-resistant. 
