Awnless Brome Grass

Two notable claims advanced for ■ Bronius inermis, commonly known as ! eruooth, armless or Hungarian brome grass, are its excellent endurance of suinmer heat and drought and its ability to grow on compara t i vely poor and hard soil. This is a perennial grass with creeping root stalks that send up erect, strong, smooth sterns from 1 to 4 feet high. with a free growth of leaves, and bears an abnndance of seed. It has been well recommenried for light soils in regions subject to extremes of temperatura or long periods of drought, where the finer grasses do not thrive. Some years ago the South Dakota station said of Bmooth brome grass that it was the best grafs vet tried at that station, catching we!l where properly sowu, giving a good sod the flrst year and a fair yield of har in favorable seasons. The forage, thoi.w'.i coarse, was considered of excellent quality and under ordinary circumstances a large amount of early spriuj? ana rail teeü coxiid be obtained in liidition to a good yield of hay. Awnless brome grass is reported as rernaining greou in winter in the south, where it is esteemed for grazing. It grows well in cold climates, and Canadian reports speak very higbly of it, both for nutritivo qualities and luxuriBnt habit of growth. In the report of tests with this grass under the direction of Dr. Saunders of the Canadian experiment stations it is mentioned as doing well on alkaline soil. The report furthersays: "Notonly does awnless brome grass thrive in the rich, moist soil of the eastern provinces, but its growth and productiveness are so wonderful even in the dry plains ol the west that its oultivation may be said without exaggeration to have solved the problem of f odder productiou on a large scale in the arid western sections. Under irrigation brome grass has given on 200 acres of land the enorraous yield of 4 JL tons per acre. One notable feature which distinguishes this grass is that, while most grasses, af ter the flowering period, deteriórate rapidly while the seeds ripen, awnless brome grass can be left standing nntil the seeds are fully ripe, yet the hay erop will be heavier without being poorer than if it had been cut while in flower, as should be done generally for all other hay grasses in order to get the best value. This remarkable characteristic of this grass is due to the fact that after the seed bearing stem bas grown up a greatnumberof leafy shoots spring up from its base. ' '