UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agriculture Handbook No. 24 June 1951

IG

HARVESTING and CLEANING

GRASS and LEGUME SEED

in the Western Gulf Region

SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

Western Gulf Region

Regional Headquarters, Forth Worth, Texas

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office

Wasliington 25, D. C. - Price CS cents
PREFACE

This handbook is an enlargement of Agronomy Memorandum No. 56»

Western Gulf Region, Soil Conservation Service, which was issued

September 14, 1943. It was issued originally as Section VI of the

Western Gulf Region's Agronomy Handbook. Some of the introduced legumes and grasses included are relatively new in use.

All plants under Discussion of Species are arranged in alphabetical order according to scientific names. An alphabetical list

of common names, on the page following the table of contents, is

given to aid the reader in locating the desired plant in the text

and on the plates. Plates are arranged in numerical order; plants

are arranged on the plates in alphabetical order according to their

scientific names.

The contributions to this handbook were numerous. Thanks are

due many technicians of the Soil Conservation Service and others who

are working with soil conservation districts. Members of the Cartographic Division, Western Gulf Region, Soil Conservation Service,

deserve thanks for their excellent drawings. The University of Wisconsin Press kindly gave permission to use certain figures from The

Leguminous Plants of Wisconsin by Norman C. Fassett, with drawings

by Richard I. Evans. Use of the following illustrations from that

publication is greatly appreciated: Figures 18 a, b, c; 19 a, b;

22 a, c; 26 a; and 78; and plates VI and XVI.

Many of the illustrations were made from fresh or pressed material. Others were taken from published material. Several species

have never been illustrated before, so far as I know.

Simon E. Wolff

Agronomist,

Regional Nursery Division
HARVESTING AND CLEANING GRASS AND LEGUME SEEDS IN THE WESTERN GULF REGION

Prepared by Simon E. Wolff, Agronomist, Regional Nursery Division, Western Gulf Region

Soil Conservation Service

CONTENTS

Page

Determining where and when to harvest, , 1

Harvesting methods. , ,*........, 3

Combine , , ,. , 3

Strippers , , 4

Binder 4

Mower and windrowers 5

Swather , 5

Bunchers 5

Lespedeza harvesters 5

Scythes and sickles , 5

Seed cleaning and pf'ocessing 5

Seed scalpers ,. 6

Cleaners 6

Suggested screens for 2-screen cleaners 7

Hammer mill 8

Storing and testing seeds 9

Discussion of grasses * 10

Discussion of legumes 69

Meaning of terms 106

List of grasses and legumes follows.
LIST OF COMMON NAMES

GRASSES P«te ^y^V/r

Bahiagrast 61 11

Bermudagrasa 39 6

Bluegrass, Texas....... 63 12

Blueatem

Angieton. ^^ 2

Big ... 13 3

Caucasian •••..•• IS 2

King Ranch 15 2

Little.. 19 2

Sand • . 14 3

Seacoast.... 17 2

Brome, Smooth 31 5

Buf falograss. • 32 5

Dallisgrass.......... .. 59 11

Fescue, Suiter......... 50 8

Gamagrass, Eastern..... 67 13

Grama

Blactc.. .. 24 3

Blue 26 4

Hairy 28 4

Sideoats 22 3

Slender..... .. 25 4

Tall 29 4

Hardinggrass 62 11

Indiangrass 64 12

Lovegrass

Boer 43 7

Lehmann. 46 8

Plains .............. 46 7

Sand. . 49 8

Weeping. . .44 7

Wilman 48 8

Orchardgrass 40 6

Panicum, Blue.......... 55 9

Paspalum, Ribl:]»ed 60 11

Redtop 12 1

ResGuegrass. 30 5

Rhodesgrass............ 36 5

Ryegrass

Italian. . . . . 53 9

Perennial. ... 54 9

Switchgrass 57 10

Thatchgrass. •. • • • 52 9

Vine-mesquite. • 56 10

Wheatgrass

Crested 10 1

Intermediate 10 1

Western.............. 11 1

Wildrye

Canada 41 6

Virginia . 43 7

Wintergrass, Texas...., 66 13

LEGUMES Page

Alfalfa. . .. . 87

Alyceclover............ 69

Burclover

California. .......... 84

Spot ted 83

Clover

Aiaike. ..... 95

Bighop. 94

Crimson 96

Hop. 94

Ladino 102

Lappa. 98

Persian 102

Red 99

White.. . 100

Crotalaria

Showy. . 71

Striped. . 70

Crownvetch, Crete...... 69

Deervetch.............. 79

Birdsfoot. 79

Wetland.......... 81

Guar................... 72

Kudsu 93

Lespedesa

Common. . * • 77

Kobe. 77

Korean 77

Sericea. . . .. • 75

Shrub. 74

Lup i ne

Blue................. -82

White 82

Medic

Black. .. ; 85

Button............... 86

Pea, Austrian 92

Singletarypea.......... 73

Sweetclover

Annua1 Yellow;....... 90

Hubam.•....••.......• 89

Madrid (yellow)...... 91

White... .........

Vetch, H^iry. 104

Plate

numbe r

19

14

18

18

21

23

21

21

22

23

22

23

14

14

14

17

17

17

15

20

16

16

16

16

16

18

17

19

19

20

15

20

19

20

19

23
HARVESTING AND CLEANING

GRASS AND LEGUME SEEDS

\

DETERMINING WHERE AND WHEN TO HARVEST

In learning whether the seeds of any field of grass are worth harvesting, a seed

collector must consider several things. These include the size, location and condition

of the field, the kind, size and capacity of the harvesting equipment, the number of

inflorescences and their grain content or fill, the need and demand for seed. Collectors

must recognize the proper stage of development to begin the harvest. They should be

prepared to complete field operations as quickly as possible, so as to escape adverse

weather conditions and loss of seed through shattering.

A farmer who harvests only a few acres for increase plantings usually does not need

large equipment. He seldom needs to clean the seeds to meet commercial standards. He

may want to cut low-fill material. Often he can meet his increased seeding needs by

cutting or stripping the mature grass and scattering the uncured seedhay over the field

to be seeded.

The commercial collector or soil conservation district that collects seeds for sale

at a profit generally has equipment needed to harvest large acreages quickly. For

wide distribution and for sale, the seeds should be cleaned to meet market or planting

standards. Such collectors ate most interested in high yields.

Actual expérience with forage grass seeds is necessary for profitable harvests.

Whether a stand of grass should be harvested depends primarily on two things: The

average number of stems and how well the seedunits are filled with grain. The stand

must be examined thoroughly. Abundance of stems and inflorescences is a good sign, but

a careful examination must be made to determine the quantity and quality of the seeds .

Typical seedunits should be examined from representative sites in the field to be sure

the seeds are developing uniformly.

For most grasses, two field examinations of seed development are necessary. The early

one is made approximately one week after flowering is well along. The second is made

approximately five days before the harvest begins.

In making the early examination, consider the moisture content of the soil and seeds

and general appearance of the flowering plants. When soil moisture is low, the plants

lack turgidity, have a light green color and usually lack the vigor to exsert the

styles and stamens. These organs then dry up within the flower, and no seeds are

produced. If penetrating rains do not fall during the period of flowering and soil

moisture is,low, a second examination ordinarily will not be necessary, as the crop

will be a failure.

The early examination is made by walking through the grass and sampling the stems

enroute. Sample the poor sites with the good ones. About every 10 steps, break off

the upper part of one stem bearing the inflorescence (often called seed head). Vary

the selection by taking a stem from the center of one plant and from the edge of the

next plant. Sample as many as 50 plants. Roll the samples in a newspaper and take

inside for further examination.

Checking seed material one week after flowering is well advanced ordinarily does

not require much skill. Most grains are easy to recognize in the formative stages.

In many grasses, as the gramas, the soft grains have or may have a green color. In
other grasses, they have a purple color. One week after flowering is well along, most

of the grasses are in the soft-dough stage, some in the milk-dough stage and a few in

the hard-dough stage. For fill and stage-of-ripening counts, take two seedunits each

from near the top, middle and base of each inflorescence and pinch the base of each

fertile floret. Record the empty (including those to bloom) and the filled florets and

figure the percentage of those filled. Also count the number of grains that are in

the various stages of maturity and the units that are still to open. This is necessary

with grasses that have a long blossoming period in order to approximately set a date

of harvest.

Make a second field examination about 5 or 6 days before the harvest begins. This

is to be certain there are enough good seeds to justify collection. It also gives the

exact condition of seed development. Use the same method as in the early examination,

but sample as many as 100 plants. Place the material in a tight sack, carry it to a

table and thoroughly mix, making certain that the green seedunits are fully represented

with the easily shattered, near-ripe ones. Count out 100 units in groups of 10. Cut

through each unit with a knife (fig. l), or pinch the base between the thumbnail and

forefinger, so as to squeeze out the grain if present. Record the filled and empty

units. If the totals for each group of 10 follow a regular pattern, for example, 6 filled

and 4 empty, stop after examining 100 units. If the totals for some of the groups

vary widely, for example, 3 filled and 7 empty, continue examining until satisfied with

the average of all the groups. An irregular number pattern usually indicates an uneven

mix of the whole sample.

Potential seed production, based on a field examination and pre-harvest count, is an

approximination. The actual fill may be high. But if stem production is meager, the

crop may not be worth harvesting. The collector estimates production by (1) counting

the seedstems in several unit areas, using a square foot or square yard, (2) averaging

the number of seedunits per stem, (3) using the record of seed fill previously obtained

or to be obtained, (4) using the number of square feet in an acre, and (5) knowing and

using the number of seedunits in a pound of pure seed. Take a good stand of little

bluestem as an example. The stems per square foot are 10. There are 200 units per

stem and 60 percent contain grains. Multiply 10 by 200 by .60 by 43,560 and divide by

269,000. Tlie result is 194 pounds of pure seedunits per acre. This is a high-producing

field if all the seeds can be collected. Take a poor stand of little bluestem with

5 stems per square foot, 150 units per stem and a fill of 10 percent. Multiply 5 by 150

by .10 by 43,560, divide by 269,000 and the result is 12 pounds of pure seed per acre.

Obviously this field of bluestem is not worth harvesting.

At all times during a seed-harvesting operation the collector checks carefully on

the amount and quality of seeds he is getting. Borderline yields often become almost

worthless yields overnight, if a wind or storm beats out some of the units. Checking

the amount and quality is particularly important near the close of the harvest season,

when loss through gradual shattering is likely to make operations unprofitable.

At what stage should grass and legume seeds be harvested to be of the highest quality?

It is now recognized that grain, such as wheat, harvested when fully ripe is the best

for feed, flour, and for planting. It also is known that legume seeds taken when hard

and plunp keep their viability longest. The grains of most grasses harvested in the

hard-dough or vitreous stages are bright in color, plump, have a low moisture content,

are usually high in germination and maintain viability better and longer in storage.

Grass seeds harvested in the milk or the soft-dough stage are improperly developed,

often shriveled, poor in color, and low in germination. Where possible, therefore,

collect grass seeds in the hard-dough and vitreous stages and legume seeds when the

coats are hard enough to withstand considerable pressure.
SOME FIELD METHODS OF DETERMINING*•FILL"

OF GRASS SEEDUNITS. (A) Pinching the base

of a fertile, sessile spikelet of little

bluestem, the grain (B) protruding;

(C) pinching the base of several spike,

lets in a single spike of sideoats grama;

(D) pressing across the center of a fertile floret of switchgrass; (E) cutting

across the center of a buffalograss bur

with a knife, and (F) rubbing out spikelets of weeping lovegrass in the palm of

the hand. All seedunits and spikelets

are enlarged.

Shown below is a hand scarifier and screen

used in Oklahoma for separating grains

and legume seeds from chaffy coverings:

Scarifier disc (G) and pan of scarifier

board (H) covered with agate paper, and

cutaway view of sifting screen (I).

Screens available from commercial sources.

Cut Cdiam. disc with batfrsd 9<lg9from the top

board ' Co¥êr bottom of di$c and top surface of lowsr

board with medium coarss agate paper.

Wing ñiut

H"Whits Pins

Figure 1.

Note: Frames may bs built with ony con^snisnt 0¥srall

dimensions to utiHis availabis serssns. Approximatsty

64 squors inches shouid be adequate.
HARVESTING METHODS

Equipment locally or generally available in this Region for harvesting grass and

legume seeds maybe the following: Grain binders, combines, mowers, strippers, windrowers, swathers, sweep rakes or bull rakes, bunchers, dump and side-delivery rakes,

scythes and sickles.

COMBINE

The combine is the most popular machine for harvesting most grass and legume seeds.

The smaller machines can be used on small acreages. Combines work most effectively

when the seeds are mature or have passed into the hard-dough stage. But the risk of

seed loss from shattering is important with some grasses and many legumes and may offset

the usually lower costs of combining.

Threshing combines (fig. 2) are often classified as to whether they have spike-tooth,

rasp-bar or angle-bar cylinders. The rasp-bar and angle-bar types are usually considered more satisfactory than the spike-tooth type, although varying the number of

teeth in the last often effectively reduces the chopping of the straw. Some machines

differ in types of screens. Several makes use two vane-adjusted screens in the cleaning

shoe, while others have only one, the chaffer.

With many grasses (fig. 3), as some of the bluestems, panicums and lovegrasses, and

a few legumes, high cylinder speed and vigorous action of other threshing parts are

required to free the seeds or seedunits from the straw and envelopes. This nearly

always results in trashy seeds unless clean screening is possible. With other grasses,

as ryegrasses, bromes, gramas and wheatgrasses, and some legumes, as peas, the cylinder

and cleaning parts are run slower resulting in less breakage of the straw and seeds.

The clearance between the cylinder and concaves should always be as wide as possible

and cylinder speed slowest that will result in conplete threshing without undue breakage

of the straw or cracking of the grains or seeds. With most grasses and a few legumes,

the adjustment of the air and tailboard must receive careful attention. No air can

be used to thresh fluffy-seeded grasses and only moderate amounts with the small,

smooth-seeded ones.

The ordinary combine (fig. 4) or thresher has not always proved satisfactory for

threshing many small-seeded grasses. In recent trials with sand lovegrass, a combine

operator suggested that by using the straw rack as a sieve more chaff could be kept

out of the cleaning shoe. On the machine used, the straw walkers were removed and a

fine-mesh (22 x 22) wire screen was stretched across the straw rack. The chaffer was

opened and the shoe sieve removed. By tilting the air upward all the chaff was kept

above the screen. The grain, free of chaff, dropped directly to the grain auger. The

seed did not need further cleaning. By using straw-rack screens with openings to suit

the kind of grass or seed being threshed, it may be possible to do a nearly complete

job of separating in the upper part of the machine. Such screens serve as vibrating

or shaking scali>ers.

The following points are listed as a guide to the inexperienced operator of combines:

1. Learn whether the crop is in a threshable condition.

2. Adjust the linear speed of the machine and the width of swath so as

to keep the machine evenly loaded for clean threshing.

3. Adjust cylinder speed and cylinder-concave spacing to suit the condition of the seed material, i.e., to obtain clean separation, low

straw breakage and uneracked grain.

4. With most grasses and a few legumes, reduce or cut off all air from
-4-

the cleaning fan to allow seeds to drop through the screens and to

carry chaff out of the hood or into the tailings.

5. Adjust opening of chaffer, shoe sieve and special sieve, if one is

used, to allow seeds or seedunits to fall through and keep all or

most of the small pieces of straw and chaff from falling through.

The right combination of air and opening will usually accomplish

this. With a few fluffy-unit grasses, it is impossible to separate

seeds from chaff on the chaffer and shoe sieve, when all air is cut

off. The shoe sieve is then removed. The chaff and the seeds are

dropped to the grain auger and augered to the seedbin.

STRIPPERS

strippers for harvesting grass seeds combine several principles. The revolving drum

type such as is used to harvest Kentucky bluegrass, is now commonly seen in the western

states and is being used in the Region. The rotating drum bears staggered rows of

spikes that catch the inflorescences and seedunits against the edge of the hopper,

strip them from the stems and 4eposit them in the hopper back of the drum. For the

most economical harvesting, the standing material should be dry enough to break easily,

or else whole stems are pulled into the hopper. The bluegrass stripper, or similar

machine, works well with the gramas, several bluestems, rescuegrass, and sweetclovers.

A medium-sized tractor will pull three machines.

A self-propelled stripper (fig. S) now in use in central Texas, consists of two

revolving reels having bats faced with casings of automobile tires. The machinéis

built in one unit. The large front reel turns counter-clockwise and presses the seedstems against the smaller stripper reel which turns clockwise and also is rubberfaced. The ripe seedunits are rubbed off and thrown into the hopper. The tough unripe

units are left on the stems for further ripening. The tension between the reels and

the speeds can be adjusted for the different grasses and the condition each one is in.

The seed material taken is remarkably free of trash and rather uniform in quality.

The average quality and purity is much higher than from any other stripper known.

The machine works very well with little bluestem, sideoats grama and weeping lovegrass

and is superior in comparative trials with the combine on King Ranch bluestem.

A light topping machine (fig. 6) is being used in central Texas to harvest native

grass seeds. It was constructed from old binder partis. The bull wheel is geared to

drive a medium-sized reel at high speed. The upper parts of the seedstems are slapped

against the sharp meftal edge of the hopper and broken off. TWo and sometimes three

reel bats strike a single bunch of grass before the machine passes over it. The seed

material obtained is a good grade of seedhay. This harvester is useful on farms,

highways and railway right-of-ways for topping ^mall, irregular and rough blocks of

grass.

BINDER

Grain binders are useful for harvesting seeds of most grasses and legumes. The

advantage' of the binder is that cutting can begin several days earlier than direct

combining. In every case the sickle should be sharp, the bundles kept small and the

shocks open. For the species that shatter easily, shallow pans should be fashioned

and attached to the machine at points where seed loss is to be expected. With Some

species, the binder is used as a header and swather (fig. 7, A) by removing the

bunching and tying mechanism.
U.S.DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WESTERN GULF REGION SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

DETAIL OF BAT WITH FLAP CYLINDER BEATER

TAILINGS ELEVATOR

CLEAN GRAIN ELEVATOR

HARDWARE

CLOTH

CHAFFER EXTENSION

TAILINGS AUGER

GRAIN AUGER

CHAF

SIEVE

SHOE SIEVE

SIZE AVAILABLE

8 X 101/2

16x24

SICKLE

CUTAWAY VIEW SHO Wl NG GE N E R AL ARRANGEMENT OF VARIOUS UNITS OF A COMBINE

4-L-5 20 2
'l'ítV.

fc..»,^ .m^ — 1 ^

(\ ^->-

II'' w$.

P^

i

:^^:^-^;

V

Figure Î. A, Combining King Ranch bluestem near Corsicana, Texas. B, Combining little bluestem from a native meadow in Oklahoma. C, Combining sericea lespedeza in eastern Oklahoma.
Figure 4. A, One way of collecting tailings of King Ranch

bluestem that contain good seeds;

the canvas is hung from the hood.

B, Combining Dallisgrass from

windrows in Louisiana.

948413 O—51-
Figure S.A,Two-reel stripper used

in central Texas to harvest seeds

of some native and introduced

grasses; most often used on little

bluestem. B, Another view

showing belted slat of larger reel

approaching and pushing seedstems

against the smaller reel.

Figure 6- Dublin topper for harvesting

seedhay of native grasses; the machine

shown is mounted on a road truck.

/A
-5-

MOWER AND WINDROWERS

Standard windrowers (fig. 7,C) attached to mofwers move the fresh-cut material and

deposit it on top of the stubble. The mowing and windrowing may be made a separate

operation where wilting and some curing is desired in the swath. Easy-shattering

legumes are seldom cured in the swath because of loss of seeds when the pods rupture.

The side-delivery and dump rake are also used for windrowing.

SWATHER

Mechanical swathers are used with some legumes, as sweetclovers , that may be combined

from the swath. The width of the swath must be adjusted to the width of the combine

and the total amount of material the moving combine can handle.

BUNCHERS

For quick-shattering legumes, the bull rake or sweep rake (fig. 8) is a labor-saving

tool. It can be used to make large cocks for a period of curing or bring material to

the combine or thresher for stationary threshing. The dunp rake can be used for bunching,

or windrowing for the moving combine if the individual dumps are uniform in size.

LESPEDEZA HARVESTERS

The short-straw lespedezas are most often harvested with machines (fig. 9) that involve

the use of a seed pan attached to the mower bar, and a shattering mechanism. The

simplest unit consists of a wood or metal pan covered with a perforated screen (fig. 9,A).

The seedhay falls on the screen and then it is raked and dragged across the screen by

one man with a fork. The ripe pods and some trash shatter off and fall through the

holes. The seed pan is popular with small farmers who harvest small lots of seed for

their own use.

One machine (fig. 9,B) uses an endless slatted conveyor containing nails for shattering

the pods. The slats drag the seedhay down and across the screen.

Other machines (fig. 9,C) use spiked slats that move eccentrically to push the seedhay

down and across the screen. Still others use one or two reels to push the seedhay

across the screen.

The last three types are driven by wheels that help to support the units. They are

used by larger growers. Some are community owned.

SCYTHES AND SICKLES

Such hand tools, although not labor-saving, become useful where local areas, as

waste corners, small meadows, or meadow strips, are to bb seeded and not much seed

material is needed. Harvesting seedhay from railroads and rough or brushy land is

often cheaply done with the sickle or scythe.

SEED CLEANING AND PROCESSING

Most grass and legume seeds require some cleaning for uniform planting. The costs

of cleaning vary with the kind of seed material, the abundance or absence of noxious

and other weed seeds and the purity. Where harmful seeds, as dodder, are present the

cleaning should be carefully done. Soil conservation districts and individuals harvesting, cleaning and marketing seeds for in-stäte and interstate shipment should see

that the information on seed tags is in line with the requirements of the state into

which the seed is tr.ansported.
-6-

The first step in cleaning or putting seed in a plantable condition is to remove excess

straw and trash. Another s tep may be the removal of extra appendages and coats that,

if not removed, make cleaning and planting difficult or inpossible. It may be possible

to combirie in one operation the removal of excess trash and reduction in size of the

items mentioned above where the whole can be used in planting equipment. Seed scarifiers are sometimes used on the legumes to remove appendages and coats. But for most

grasses the hammer mill is one of the best machines for this job.

SEED SCALPERS

A home-made, vibrating scalper (fig. 10) is a useful tool for rough-cleaning trashy

seeds. This cleaner prepares seeds for planting in drills equipped to handle trashy

seeds, and in many instances, prepares them for sale without further cleaning. It can

be made in part from scrap materials. The wooden frame supports an inclined screen of

usually quarter-inch hardware cloth. The incline is adjustable to slopes 6 to 12 inches.

The eccentric drive connected to a small motor, vibrates the screen and causes the

seeds to fall through, while the coarse trash rides over the screen. With fluffy seeds

the capacity of the cleaner is increased by rubbing the matterial back and forth and

spreading it out in a thin layer on the screen.

The barrel scalper was constructed for a soil conservation district in western Oklahoma.

It cleans the seeds of little bluestem, Indiangrass and sideoats grama where they can

be handled in trashy seed planter boxes. The capacity is 1500 or 2000 pounds of clean

seed a day when turned by hand and greater when turned by a motor. A hinged panel opens

to load the machine and empty the trash. It also can be made in a farm shop from scrap

metal.

CLEANERS

The two-screen, farm fanning mill (fig. 11) is used for cleaning many kinds of seeds.

Screens with different-sized openings are used to sort the seeds, and the air blast

separates the trash from the seeds. By adjusting the feeding slot, thé pitch of the

screens, and repeating the process, usually any desired purity can be obtained. With

a few fluffy-seeded grasses, however, the cleaning process should be reversed. This is

accomplished by adjusting the screens so as to allow the trash to drop through and be

carried out the seed trough, while the fluffy seeds, instead of the trash, are blown

off the screens.

The following chart lists sieve sizes (openings) to use in a 2-screen cleaner for many

of the species described in this publication. The accomfanying illustration gives

the types of openings. The round-hole and oblong openings are made in perforated metal;

the slotted and square mesh openings are made of wire cloth. The sizes suggested in

thé chart may not always be suitable for cleaning the seeds at hand. Other screens

should be tried. Only the seeds that screen readily are listed.

Larger cleaners equipped with three or more variable-pitch screens generally do a

faster, more thorough job. They also are equipped with traveling screen brushes and

air adjustments.

The gravity cleaners are useful in sorting mixtures of seeds, or in size- and weightgrading seeds within a species. Unfilled units usually can be separated from the filled

ones. The seeds are fed onto a vibrating, adjustable pitch canvas. The differences

in weight, shape and size of seeds and roughness of coats cause the different seeds

to travel at variable speeds in a diagonal direction and fall into different slots and

containers at the bottom.
^

Figure 7. A, Swathing Hubam sweetclover seedhay on a high-cut stubble with a binder.

B, Combining Hubam sweetclover from the swath. C, Windrowing ryegrass and hop clover

seedhay in Arkansas.
Figure 8- Uaing a buncher or sweep rake to carry hay to the machine.

Figure 9. Types of lespedeza

seed harvesters. A, Seed pan

(open) attached to a mower

bar. B. A harvester that has

a slatted endless reel to

shatter the pods off the

stems. C, A harvester that

uses spiked slats to push

seedhay across the screen.
Figure 10. The vibrating

seed scalper is useful to

eparate coarse material

from trashy seeds.^

Figure 11. Cleaning hairy

vetch and rye seeds with a

fanning mill. The spiral

separator (right) separates

the vetch and rye seeds.
-7-

SUGGESTED SCREENS FOR TWO-SCREEN CLEANERS

1 species Top screen Bottom screen |

1 GRASSES 1

Agropyron cristatum

*• intermedium

*• smithi

3x16 or 1/18x1/4

1/14 X 1/2

1/14 X 1/2

4x22 or 6x28

4 X 22

4 X 22

Agrostis alba 28x28 or 30x30 50x50 or 60x60

Bouteloua curtipendula 1/12 X 1/2 6 X 22

Bromus catharticus

" inermis

1/13 X 1/2

1/13 X 1/2

6 X 24

6 X 24

Buchloe dactyloides (burs)

(hulled grain)

16

1/15

6

1/20

Cynodon dactylon 6 X 30 6 X 40

Dactylis glomerata 3 X 16 6 X 24

Eragrostis chloromelas

" curvula

** intermedia

** lehmanniana

** superba

trichodes

1/25

1/24

1/25

40 X 40

1/22

1/24

50 X 50

36 X 36

50 X 50

60 X ^60

32 X 32

36 X 36

Festuca elatior arundinacea 1/14 X 1/4 4 X 20

Lolium multiflorum

" perenne

1/14 X 1/4

1/14 X 1/2

4 X 20

4 X 20

Panicum antidótale

'* obtus um

•• virgatum

1/12

9

8

1/25

1/18

1/20

Paspalum dilatatum

" malacophyllum

'* nptatum

3 X 14

1/15

9

1/14

30 X 30

1/16

Phalaris tuberosa stenoptera 3 X 16 6 X 24

Sécale céréale (vetch from) 7/64 X 3/4 9

LEGUMES

Alysicarpus vaginalis Í/13 1/22 or 6x22

Coronilla cret ica 1/13 X 1/2 6 X 24

Crotalaria intermedia

w spectabilis

7

12

1/15

8

Lathyrus hirsutus 12 6/64 X 3/4

Lespedeza bicolor

•• cuneata

'» stipulacea

»» striata

1/12

1/14 X 1/4

6x15 or 1/18x1/4

6x14 or 1/16x1/4

6 X 20

6 X 22

1/16

1/14

Lotus americanus

** corniculatus

" uliginosus

1/13

1/18

1/22

6 X 22

1/22 or 6x30

6 x 38

Medicago arabica

'* hispida

** lupulina

*• orbicularis

•* sativa

1/13

1/13

1/15

1/12

1/15

6 X 22

6 X 22

6 X 22

6 X 20

6 X 24

Melilotus alba annua

'* indica

** officinalis

1/14

1/16

1/14

6 X 24

2 X 28

6 X 22

Pisum sativum arvense 17 5/32 X 3/4

Trifc>1ium dubium

' hybridum

» incarnatum

' lappaceum

" pra tense

' procumbens

* repens

' res up i na tum

1/20

1/19

1/13

1/18

1/15

1/22

1/19

1/18

6 X 34

6 X 32

6 X 22

6 X 30

6 X 22

6 X 36

6 X 32

6 X 30

1 Vicia villosa 14 7/64 X 3/4
-8-

CLEANER SCREEN PERFORATIONS USUALLY AVAILABLE

6 7 8 9 10 II 12 14 15 16 17 18

24 Ga. steel screens with round holes in 64ths from 6/64" to 36/64"

as in A. Also available to 80/64"-

•• •• •• •• ••

• #• ••• ••• ••• •••

• • •• •• •• ••

••• •••

'/|2 '/|4 '/H '16 '/|8 '/20 '/22 '/25

11 Ga. zinc screens with round holes from 1/25" to 1/12" as in A.

'/,il illlllllll

Oblong holes in both steel and zinc shown in pattern B, varying in

widths from 1/22" to 24/64" and in lengths as shown.

Perforated

Metal

•••••••

•••••••

•••••••

•••••••

lililí

iiiiii

B

Wire Mesh

Wire mesh as in C

and Davaliable in

a wide ran ge o f

opening s izes.

HAMMER MILL

There is no known choice of hammer mill for processing grass seeds. The mills with

swinging hammers (fig. 12) and those with non-swinging hammers have been used successfully.

The results depend on speed of the cylinder, size of screen openings, and rate of feed.

Each of these things must be determined early in the milling operation of each grass or

mixture.

Most farm hammer mills are designed for grinding feed. The usual cylinder speeds

must be greatly reduced when processing grass seeds, in order to prevent breakage. In

general, the longer the seeds are in proportion to their thickness, the slower the

cylinder speed must be to avoid or reduce loss through breakage.

Screen openings of hammer mills vary in size and shape. Those with slot openings

instead of round ones handle slender seeds with less breakage. When a screen of the

correct size of opening is not at hand, use a coarser screen and increase the cylinder

speed to obtain about the same result.

With most seeds the mill should be fed to its full capacity. The mass of seeds cushions

the blow of the hammers, and the material rolls around until it is trimmed enough to

pass through the openings. As soon as the material in the mill is reduced below capacity

without any change in cylinder speed, the cushioning effect on the hammers is reduced

and grinding and breakage is increased.

The procedure for adjusting the hammer mill is quoted below from U.S.D.A. Farmers*

Bulletin No. 1985, Seed for Regrassing Great Plains Areas:

"1. Place in the mill a screen having openings slightly larger than seed

to be processed.

2. Start the mill at slow speed. Fill the cylinder with seed material

and keep it full. .
EXHAUST

STACK

^

^

SWIN9IN0 HAMMERS

Cut away view of hammer mill

showing hammers and screen

Hammer mill showing air exhaust

system for removal of dust and

chaff.

FARM TYPE HAMMER MILL
-9-

3. After a short trial run, carefully examine the seed that has passed

through the mill. If few or no cracked or hulled seeds are found

but many of the seeds retain the appendages you wished to remove,

advance the cylinder speed by about one hundred revolutions per minute.

Be careful to prevent cracking or damaging of seed. Overprocessing

may greatly reduce germination.

4. Repeat step 3 until the greatest amount of trimmed material is being

obtained with least breakage of seed. Differences in seed size within

a given lot often make it necessary, after running the lot through the

hammer mill and cleaning it in the fanning mill, to rerun the portion

still untrimmed through a finer hammer mill screen.**

STORING AND TESTING SEEDS

When seeds are properly cured before cleaning, they usually have the correct moisture

content for storage. In humid areas, it has been difficult at times to obtain a good

cure under natural conditions. Artificial drying then becomes necessary to reduce the

moisture content and prevent deterioration in storage. In all climates, the storeroom

should be well ventilated and insulated against extreme heat. For protection against

mice and rats, the storage should be in tight steel bins or the structure lined with

heavy metal screens. For temporary storage, the sacks should be stacked in such a

manner that open space is left between each sack. Where seed insects are a problem, as

they are with most legumes, the sacked seeds should be thoroughly fumigated before

placement in the storeroom and the storeroom made tight enough to permit periodic

fumigation or tight enough to keep fumigant present at all times.

Freshly harvested seeds of many legumes and grasses exhibit a profound dormancy. Even

when they are bright and plunp and have every mark of good quality, they may not germinate. Very often such seeds are sent to the laboratory shortly after harvest. There

they are given the test for normal seeds but with poor results. A good rule is not to

submit samples for germination tests until three months after harvest, and never without

giving the date of harvest.'

Sampling seeds for laboratory tests is seldom done during the cleaning period, unless

the sample is stored with the lot. When cleaning is delayed for two or three months

after harvest, a handful from each bag is kept back in a separate bag, the contents of

this bag thoroughly mixed, and a proper-sized amount of the mixture sent to the laboratory. When the seeds are stored longer than six months, another sample should be

collected and sent to the laboratory. To be of most value, sanples should be taken and

tests made shortly before the seeds are planted or sold. Proper sanpling of bagged

seeds follows: Five bags or less, sample each bag; more than five bags, sample every

fifth bag, but not less than five.

Seed testing is an important thing to consider in any collecting and planting program

and where seeds are held in storage until planted. Within the Region there are four

state seed-testing laboratories which will testi farmer-harvested seeds for nothing or

at a very low cost. In Texas, at least, there is a laboratory for testing vetch seeds.

The Soil Conservation Service laboratory at San Antonio tests seeds for soil conservation districts of all the states. For every lot of seed, the collector or owner should

know the purity, germination and content of weed seeds and other agricultural seeds.

948413 O—51 3
-10-

DISCUSSION OF GRASSES

CRESTED WHEATGRASS (Agropyron cristatufi) ^

Adaptation and Use. Crested wheatgrass is a hardy, drought-resistant, perennial bunchgrass, introduced from Russia. It is adapted to the High Plains of Texas and C^lahoma.

It is being used successfully in irrigated pastures of the C^lahoma and Texas panhandles.

In the same areas, it has done well on the heavier soils under dry-land conditions.

Pure dry-land stands on the Amarillo Conservation Experiment Station have produced good

gains on cattle. It requires heavy soil and good winter and spring rainfall for best

growth. Under these conditions, it furnishes high-protein grazing from late fall until

the following June. It is palatable to most livestock, as the leaves are less harsh

than those of the native western wheatgrass.

Seed Areas. Seed can be obtained only from artificial stands.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality of Seed. Same as for western wheatgrass.

Harvesting. The season for harvesting corresponds to that of wheat or shortly after

wheat ripens. It can be harvested with either binder or coidbine. Since the seeds ripen

while the plants are still green, the straw has considerable feeding value. The seeds

shatter readily. The harvest should begin as the grains reach the stiff-dough stage.

The crop may be combined or headed or cut with a grain binder and shocked and threshed

after curing, or cut and windrowed and threshed using a pickup attachment on the combine.

In threshing the cured bundles or seedhay, all or most of the concaves should be removed

and all air cut off.

Care of Green Seed. Same as for western wheatgrass.

Cleaning. Same as for western wheatgrass.

Processing. Except for the awned types, the seed can be planted with ordinary grain

drills without processing.

Quality. Good quality recleaned seeds have an approximate bushel weight of 22 pounds,

a purity of 88 percent, a 7-day germination of 69 percent, a total germination of 86

percent, a longevity of 2 years or more, 200,000 per pound of pure seed, consist principally of florets, and have a short dormant period seldom exceeding a month.

INTERMEDIATE WHEATGRASS (Agropyron intermedium)

Adaptation and Use. Intermediate wheatgrass is a perennial, sod-forming grass with heavy

rootstocks. It is not as aggressive as western wheatgrass. Introduced from the Soviet

Union and extensively tried in the northern and central parts of the Great Plains and

Pacific Northwest. It appears to be adapted to a variety of soils and climatic conditions, both for pasture and forage. It is more drought-resistant than smooth brome

and, in some cases, less hardy and less drought-resistant than crested wheatgrass.

Seeding failures are rare. It is one of the easiest grasses to establish with good

records from southern and southwestern Kansas, Panhandle of Texas and western Oklahoma.

Further trials in parts of western and northern Oklahoma and western Texas should yield

information on climatic and soil adaptation.

Likely Seed Areas. Commercial seed is available for limited plantings. Some seed is

being grown in southwestern Kansas.

Harvesting. Same as for western wheatgrass.
-11.

Cleaning and Processing. Same as for western wheatgrass.

Quality. The seedunit is the smooth filled floret. Good seeds are somewhat larger and

heavier than those of western wheatgrass. Such seeds have a purity of 89 percent, a

7-day germination of 80 percent, a final germination of 91 percent, and a longevity of

over 2 years. There are 88,000 seedunits in a pound of pure seed.

WESTERN WHEATGRASS (Âgropyrofl Snithi)

Adaptation and Use. Western wheatgrass occurs naturally and has its most important use

in Oklahoma and Texas north of latitude 33** and west of longittide 97**. It is also

native to northwest Arkansas. It is usually found growing in heavy soil subject to

occasional flooding or accumulation of run-off water, though it is by no means confined

to such sites. It is a valuable grass for winter and spring grazing and for use in

vegetating terrace outlet waterways. Near Woodward, Oklahoma, it is furnishing abundant, high-protein pasturage from a planting made in 1943 on upland sandy soil typical

of that along the North Canadian River. An excellent stand was obtained in this field

at the outset, and summer annual weeds had not made any appreciable invasion by 1949.

Likely Seed Areas. Best seed areas in the Region are the several large playa lakes

in the vicinity of Perryton, Pampa and Dalhart, Texas, and the railroad right of way

between Hooker, Oklahoma and Spearman, Texas. Important collections of seed have been

made here in the past, and seed from these areas is better ad^ted to the balance of

the Region than is seed from more northerly points.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality of Seed. Since the plants develop from underground stems, the number of seedstems will depend on the kind of soil, the fertility

and moisture. Lack of uniformity in spike (head) development may be an indicator of

poor fill. The seeds mature about 2 to 3 weeks after wheat ripens. Shattering is slow,

so that harvesting can be delayed or scheduled with convenience. For reasonable yields,

at least 50 percent of the florets should contain grains. The percentage should he

checked closely. This is done by separating and pinching the middle of each floret

with the fingernail. A filled floret can be dented only; an unfilled one can be flattened. Sampling the stand by gathering florets from at least 10 plants and cutting

across each one with a knife is a quick way to determine fill. Use care that ergotfilled florets are not mistaken for grain-filled florets.

Harvesting. The season for harvesting is generally about 3 to 4 weeks after wheat harvest. Allow about 3 iveeks after blooming for the grain to reach hard dough. Cutting

should start as soon as most of the seeds shatter readily when the heads are pinched

or whipped sharply against the palm of the hand. An ordinary combine is the best machine

for the job. Use cylinder-concave spacing of 3/8 to 1/2 inch and cylinder speed of

1200 to 1400 RPM. The air-blast should be greatly reduced, but some air is helpful in

removing light trash and empty florets from the seed. Both upper and lower adjustable

sieves may be used, with the vanes set to just allow the flow of seed to fall through.

Windrowing, followed by pickup threshing after the seeds have cured, is also an excellent

method of harvesting. Heading, followed by stacking and later threshing, can be done.

Binders are not ordinarily satisfactory. Small areas can be mowed and the seedhay

scattered direct on the field to be seeded. The stripper will do a good job of harvesting.

Care of Green Seed. Combined and stripped seeds should be allowed to cure before sacking.

Seeds from the other methods of harvesting mentioned can be sacked as soon as threshed.

Cleaning. Careful conobining or threshing will yield seeds of a plantable quality without

recleaning. If an excessive amount of stemmy material is present in the seeds, it can

be quickly and easily removed by running the seeds over a scalper.
-12-

Processing. Processing i$ not necessary t® fire|»|ire westefri Wheatgra9 9 for planting

with a grass drill, ^fmn the seeds are t© bf iilnfited with a regular grain drill, they

ahould be processed ti|jhtly in a hanrni^r Oiill tp remove the awns.

Quality. Combined or thresher-run 9#f#a should have a purity of 70 to 80 percent.

Recleaning in a fanning mill will raise this to 90 percunt or better. Germination is

usually low for several months after harvest, but should reach 80 percent by the following

year. There are about 110,000 smooth, filled florets (seedunits) in a pound of pure

seed*

REDTOP (Agrostis alha)

Description, Adaptation and Use» A tufted perennial, with rhiaomts and moderately

coarse decumbent or erect stems. It forms an open turf. Panicle open, pyraoildal-oblong,

reddish, the branches many, spreading and in distinct whorls; spikelets amall* oneflowered, the lemma rarely with a short awn. This is the oomfnpn rfrdtop cultivated for

meadows, pastures and lawns in most of the northern and northeastern states; occasionally

found as an escape in the cooler part of this Region and northward. Adapted to northern

Arkansas and northeastern C^lahoma. Best suited to heavy and wet soils low in lime.

Sometimes planted with timothy and red clover and will usually outlive both. It is a

favorite grass for legume-grass mixtures in most states of the humici regiona. Th^^lne*

stemmed forms are used as golf-green grasses in the Southeast and occasionally in this

Region.

Likely Seed Areas. None in the Region. Nearly all commercial s^ed comes from Illinois

and Missouri.

Managing for Seed. Qrowth begins in early spring. Flowering and fruiting occurs in

June and July. As with many other grasses, the flowering in a single panicle is not

uniform and covers a period of 7 to 10 days. When planning to harvest seedt, the first

bloqma should be noted and an examination made about 7 days later to determine development« There is a very short period in which to cut the crop for seed before it shatters.

Fill can be determined by pinching the developing spikelets or cutting across each on

a board.

Production Under Cultivation. In pure broadcast stands the average yields are about

SS pounds per acre. Exceptional yields are considerably higher.

harvesting, Most machinery companies suggest combining the standing grass and they

give carefMl directions. Some of these are: (X) Use extra concaves and close the

openings in the concaves. (2) use cylinder speed from 1300 to 1600 RPM and spacing of

1/16 to 3/8 inch, (3) keep chaffer and adjustable sieve three-fourths closed to nearly

closed, (4) use special 24 x 24 screen in lower part of cleaning shoe, and (5) close

off all air from fan and if necessary hang a curtain across the straw rack back of

cylinder to out down air from cylinder.

Considerable seed is taken with the bluegrass strippers. Some seedhay is bouiid, shocked

and threshed from the shock or stacked and threshed. A greater percentage o^f grains

will thresh from cured seedhay than from standing seedstems.

Care of Qreen Seeds. Combined and stripped seed material will need curing before sacking.

Cleaning. Cleaning requires careful screening and wind adjustment. Openings of triangular perforated screens range from 1/8 to 10/64 inch and slotted screens from 9/64 x 3/4

inch to 11/64 x 3/4 inch. Stripped material can be run over vibrating scalper to remove

Coarse trash before final cleaning in the fanning or several-screen mill.
Crested wheotgrass , Agropyron

cristotum. Spike ; two views of

floret (seedunit), and three

views of groin i.6).

Redtop, Agrostis alba. Panicle; open spikelet; two views

of floret (^); three views of grain;sclerotium (S)of ergot

retained in the floret.

Intermediate ti^ia\<¡fon, Agropyron intermedium.

Two views of floret (seedunit), ond three views

of groin (6).

PLATE I

Western wheotgrass, Agropyron smithi. Plont;

two views of floret (seedunit), and three

views of groin ((?).
-13-

Quality. Most lots of redtop seed contain mixed units of florets, grains and spikelets

and in the order listed. Fancy recleaned seed, containing a high percentage of grains,

weighs 30 to 38 pounds or more per bushel. The average commercial seed weighs 14 pounds

per bushel. Some records indicate a wide range of viability in stored seed. Thé Danish

seed-testing station stored various seeds at usual room temperature and tested them

over a period of many years and the germination of redtop did not drop below 91 percent

for the first 6 years. In this country the seeds usually are held in storage not more

than 2 years. The average purities range from 92 to 97 percent. The grain is small

and there are about 5,500,000 of them and approximately 5,000, 000 florets in a pound.

BIO BLUES TE If (Andropogon furcatus)

Adaptation and Use. Big bluestem is adapted to the eastern half of Oklahoma and Texas,

to a small area in northwestern Arkansas in what is known as the Tall Grass Prairie,

and in a greater part of the prairies east of the 30-inch rainfall belt. It ii«y occur

on lowlands and areas of rapid infiltration west of this belt. Except in the strictly

tall grass sites, it occupies the lower slopes because it needs more moisture than

does the little bluestem. It is usually found mixed with little bluestem and Indiangrass. It is used for hay and grating.

Likely Seed Areas. The most likely seed areas of big bluestem are in northern Oklahoma

extending eastward from the vicinity of Enid to the state line. Seed formation becomes

more erratic farther south due to the generally earlier appearance of the blooms and

higher temperaturesn^ich affect pollination and fertilization. In 15 years of observation by the writer, the fill in the southern parts of the Region has never been

found to exceed 20 percent, except once in one local area in Kenedy County, Texas.

Local areas (colonies) should be examined throughout this 4-state Region during the

production season in order to discover seed-producing strains. Nature somewhere has

produced such strains if man could find and propagate them. Well preserved native

meadows either on bottoms or adapted heavy soil uplands furnish the most satisfactory

stands for harvest.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. íor a pure stand to be worth harvesting, the

seedstems should show a good density, with 20 percent of the fertile spikelets filled.

Where the stand is mixed with little bluestem and Indiangrass, or if the stand is to

be harvested as seedhay and used locally, the fill may be less than 20 percent. To

determine fill, select at random not fewer than 50 fertile spikelets and pinch each

one near the base with the thumbnail and forefinger. Also be sure to test the stalked

spikelet, as it often contains a well-developed grain.

Production Under Cultivation. In exceptional years the seed yields under dry-land

conditions on the nursery at San Antonio were as high as 150 pounds per acre. Yields

from natural stands will be less.

Harvesting. The harvest season is from September 20 to periods of heavy frost. Small

combines can be used successfully to harvest after the grain has passed the hard-dough

stage. At this stage the joints of the raceme break apart easily and separate from

the straw without close adjustment of cylinder and concave and without breaking the

straw. Any overload on the straw rack will prevent good separation of spikelets from

the straw. Underloading can be accomplished by heading high, reducing the speed of

the tractor and cutting only a part of the swath. Slow threshing with air reduced will

always give best results. The stand can be cut with a grain binder, shocked, cured and

threshed with stationary cooibihe or threshing unit. If no combine or thresher is available, and only a short haul is involved, the seedhay can l>e mowed, raked and hauled to

the field to be vegetated.

Care of Green Seed. Fresh seeds from the combine need curing for several days before

being sacked. They can be kept in an open shed where air can circulate and stirred

about twice each day.
\

\

Cleaning and Processing. Since only local areas will be harvested and since this

grass occurs generally as a mixture, special cleaning is not usiially necessary, the

seeds can be processed with a hammer mill and recleaned in a fanning mill to permit

drilling with grass drills, or processed to the point where the grain is the unit.

Quality. The purity of the seed material from the combine varies from 15 to 40 percent.

The seedunit is the fertile spikelet, the joint of the raceme and the stalk of the

sterile spikelet. Frequently the sterile spikelet produces a well-developed grain.

The trashy units have a 7-day germination of 31 percent and a final germination of 52

percent. The grain has a 7-day germination of S2 percent. The seeds may ren^in dormant

6 months or longer after harvest, but sometimes germinate well a ra3nth after harvest.

Known longevity is 3 years. There are, on the average, 165,000 trashy seedunits in a

pound and 191,000 grains in a pound.

SAND BLUESTEII (Andropogon halli)

Adaptation and Use. This grass occurs in Texas and Oklahoma on sandy land west of

longitude 99® and north of latitude 32**. In places it intergrades with big bluestem.

Intermediate forms of both species occur frequently. Its use is largely confined to

erosion control of sandy lands and grazing.

Likely Seed Areas. Few seed areas large enough for machine collection are available,

because the grass is usually heavily grased. Saiall areas are found on dunes, in sandy

bottoms, abandoned fields and right-of-ways. Acreages have been established by the

Woodward nursery on Cheyenne eand Dalhart Land Utilisation Projects for seed production.

Yields and Fill. Sand bluestem normally produces seed material having a low fill.

Careful checks are always necessary before harvest. Some years ergot is conmon and

replaces many of the normal grains of the fertile spikelets» The method of determining

quality is the same as for big bluestem.

Production Under Cultivation. Sand bluestem is relatively easy to grow under cultivation. Yields of 80 to 150 pounds of seed per acre have been obtained under dry-land

conditions at Woodward, Oklahoma. It responds well, in seed production, to applications

of nitrogen. It is an excellent grass to grow under irrigation for seed, grazing and hay.

Harvesting. Usually the same as for big bluestem, from October 1 to frost. The air-blast

on the combine should be conpletely cut off, and only the top adjustable sieve (chaffer)

left in the cleaning shoe. Became the spikelets are very hairy, their separation from

the trash is slow, and the seedhay must be fed through the separator at a slower rate

than big bluestem.

Care of Fresh Seed. Same as for big bluestem.

Cleaning and Processing. Seed material of sand bluestem is norraslly trashy as it comes

from the combine, and should always be recleaned before planting. The siii«>lest method

of cleaning is to run the material over a scalper to remove the stems and other large

impurities. A fanning mill can be used, but the rate of cleaning is slower and, therefore, more expensive. The seed material from the combine can be processed in the hammer

mill to remove the hairs and awns, without excessive damage to the grain. À grass drill

equipped to handle trashy material is required to plant the recleaned seed.

<^'a^ity. In general the quality of the seed is similar to that of big bluestem. The

purity averages 27 percent, the 7-day germination 48 percent, the final germination 59

percent, the longevity over 3 years. There are 113,000 seedunits in a pound of pure

seed. The dormiint period of new seed is 1 to 3 months, or sometimes longer.
-15-

CAUCASIAN BLUESTEM (Àndropogon intermedius caucas icu$ )

Description, Adaptation and Use. An upric^t bunchgrass, 2 to 3 feet tall, leafy at and

near the base, and with rather fine stems. The panicle with an axis more thati 1^ inches

long often moderately branched or bearing simple branches (racemes). It is distinguished from King Ranch bluestem by the upright, stiff stems which seldom dry a straw

color, the normally shorter basal leaves containing some red pigment, and the branched,

purple panicle having a longer axis. It was introduced from Asia and has been under

trial for a number of years in the western half of the Region. It is a fair forage and

seed producer, but lacks the seedling aggressiveness of King Ranch bluestem. Suitable

for grazing in low rainfall areas and is reported more palatable than many native and

introduced bluestems where grown under the same conditions.

Likely Seed Areas. None established.

Managing for Seed. Growth starts in early spring. Stems and seeds are produced throujg^

June, to the frost period in the fall. Attention should be given to the period of hi^est

yields, probably in late June and late September. Hj^en heavily grazed, the seedstems

may never elongate. The i4>per racemes mature and often shatter before the lowest are

developed. The seed harvest should start when the maximum number of filled spike lets

are available.

Production Under Cultivation. No records available. Fifty pounds per acre is a good

yield.

Harvesting. Caucasian bluestem can be harvested with the combine. The procedure will

be about the same as for King Ranch bluestem. In the dry climate where it is now being

grown, the bluegrass stripper should be suitable for taking the seeds.

Care of Green Seed. See little bluestem.

Cleaning. See little bluestem.

Quality. The seedunit of Caucasian bluestem resembles that of King Ranch bluestem.

It is smaller and has fewer hairs on the stalks and joints of the racemes. The samples

tested show there are about 1,000,000 units in a pound. Laboratory records give a

7-day germination of 24 percent and a rather low final germination of 39 percent.

Occasional lots after four months' storage have a 7-day germination of 60 percent.

Field germinations have been good.

KING RANCH BLUESTEM (Andrppogofi ischaemum var. ; (T-34S7)

Adaptation and Use. King Ranch bluestem is a deep- rooted^ semi prostrate , tufted

perennial. The growth is unusually vigorous after drought. It is well suited to a

wide range of soils and conditions. Known to be salt tolerant on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Strongly competitive with grasses of like or lower stature. Produces seeds from June

until frost. Will invade short-grass and mid-grass pastures. Seedlings survive competition of annuals. Well suited for overseeding thin and eroded soils for erosion

control and for use in conservation cropping systems on cropland. Livestock graze.it

readily. Useful for hay, pasture, spoil-bank and dam protection and vegetating waterways. It is a strong competitor for moisture, and, if kept vigorous, shows promise of

confie ting with low brush in southern Texas. Productive under irrigation. It was introduced into Texas probably on the King Ranch about 1910. There it spread in competition

with native grasses and Rhodesgrass.

Likely Seed Areas. It was first distributed by the Soil Conservation Service nurseries

in trial plantings and to the soil conservation district cooperators. Several growers
-16-

at various places in Texas and Oklahoma now grow seeds for sale. There are no inportant

wild stands.

Managing for Seed. Stems are produced throughout the growing period, from April to

cold weather. The first crop is ready between May 15 and June 15, the second 30 to 45

days later, one in September and generally one in October or November. The number of

harvests will always depend on distribution and amount of rainfall. The summer fill

is usually lowest, the September fill the highest.

Potential yield is hard to estimate. Where there are 10 inflorescences per row-foot

and the majority have some purple color in the branches, check closely for stage of

flowering and condition of developing grains. When filled this many inflorescences per

row-foot will produce from 18 to 25 pounds of seed per acre. If 40 percent of the

units are filled, the yield of pure seed should be 8 to 10 pounds per acre. Stands of

5 stems per row-foot are probably not worth combining. Usually 3 to 5 days are needed

for an inflorescence to complete its flowering. The lowermost spike lets of each raceme

are always last to come into flower. Start the combine when a third to half the racemes

show light-brown color and slight shattering at the tips. This period is also determined

by pulling the more mature inflorescences li^tly through the thuni) and fingers. When

about half the joints break off or pull apart, it is time to harvest.

Fill, during the development period, can be observed by pinching the small, fertile

spikelets. When they contain a developing grain, there is some purple color when observed

against the light. The grain is usually purple-coated when soft. Since only the brown

spikelets contain amber or hard seeds, most of the material will be taken in the

medium-dough stage. Empty spikelets often take on a straw or papery color.

Harvesting. King Ranch bluestem can be harvested with any combine, but with difficul ty

owing to the immaturity of many inflorescences. The canvas-type combine is considered

best if a choice is possible. Flaps or brushes are added to the reel bats to push the

material back onto the canvas. The cylinder speed is high, from 1500 to 1800 RPM; the

spacing 1/4 to 1/8 inch or closer from the concaves. (One producer insists that toothed

cylinder and concave does a better job of separating than the rub-bar or rasp-bar types.

It is run at medium speeds and with H-inch spacing between cylinder and concaves.) Where

stem height varies, an extra man is often used to change height of sickle to keep an

even lot of material on the canvas or in the auger. Start the machine as soon as

morning dampness leaves the standing material. Take as few leaves and weeds as possible.

Lowering the front end of the chaffer and raising the rear end increases the efficiency

of cleaning. Qpen the chaffer. Remove the shoe sieve. Cover the chaffer extension

with thin metal to block off tailing material from auger. Remove all air, preferably

by removing fan blades. Keep clean-grain pan free of sticky material so as to allow

chaffy seeds to slide to the clean grain auger. Use a box sled or canvas and catch

all tailings. The ccmventional grain bin and auger are of no use to unload the chaffy

seeds. THey should be sacked as they drop from the grain spout. A plywood box, having

a hinged door at the side and bottom, was recently built to replace the grain bin and

auger. The trashy seeds are dropped into the bed of a pickup truck from the box.

A two-reel stripper, constructed at Goldthwaite, Texas was used for comparison with a

standard combine to harvest seeds of King Ranch bluestem. The striw>er obtained seeds

suitable for planting without cleaning. It has several advantages over the combine for

harvesting seeds of this grass.

Another method of harvesting is to mow and evenly windrow the seedhay, cure and combine

from the windrow.

The seedhay of King Ranch bluestem is very valuable for mulching and seeding dams and

fills. It can be mowed, windrowed and baled or baled directly from the swath. It can

be moved as loose seedhay to the planting site, if distance is not great.
-17-

Care of Green Seed. Whether sacked at the combine or removed loose, the trashy material

as it comes from the combine must be dried for at least 2 days. If piled over 4 inches

thick, stir to keep from heating. 'Drying on porous canvas or wood floor is best.

Concrete sweats.

Cleaning and Processing. The seed scalper can be used for the first cleaning. The

seeds are usually plantable after one scalping. For better cleaning, the larger cleaners

are used. In these the usual cleaning process is reversed; i.e., the seeds are blown

out by the fan, and the trash, weed seeds and heavy material screened out through the

clean seed spout. This method produces seeds of higher purity.

Combine tailings are not easy to clean on a vibrating scalper. They may be run through

the hammer mill at 800 RPM using a 1/4-inch screen and sacked without further cleaning.

Such seed material is fine enough to flow through a cotton box or a grass-seed drill.

The commercial seedsmen can sell such material on a pure live seed basis. One operator

runs his combine tailings over a scalper and then through a pecan sheller to reduce the

hairs and appendages of the seedunit. This gives him higher purity and increased plantability of seeds.

Quality. New seeds of King Ranch bluestem are usually dormant for 1 to 4 months. For

most accurate results, seed tests should be delayed for at least 60 days after harvest.

The seedunit, as with other bluestems, is the joint of a raceme, the fertile spikelet,

and the stalk of the neutral or male spikelet. For practical purposes, the seedunit

is called a trashy spikelet. The average purity of trashy seed is 25 percent, the 7-day

germination 29 percent, and final germination 57 percent. There are 777, 000 filled

seedunits in a pound of pure seed. The longevity is 4 years. The purity of hammermilled tailings is about 1 percent, of seedhay 2.25 percent. As new methods of cleaning

are foui|4, the purity and plantability of King Ranch bluestem should improve.

S£ACOAST BLUESTEM (Àndropogon littoralis)

Description, Adaptation and Use. As now recognized, seacoast bluestem in a strongly

rhizomatous, leafy perennial. Rhizomes normally thick and scaly; stems not crowded,

medium in size, compressed, leafy throughout, the upper leaves grading into the leafy

bracts of the flowering branches; leaves wider than those on the average little bluestem plant, flat throughout or somewhat folded at the base; seed branches short or

long, bearing single hairy racemes which often do not protrude fully from the leafy

bracts; spikelets hairy, not spreading. Differs from typical little bluestem in the

prominent rhizomes, the leafy stems, and the conspicuously bracted, hairy inflorescence.

The natural range is the dune and deep isands of the Gulf Coast, and the plants are

most abundant in Kleberg, Kenedy, Brooks, Jim Wells, Duval and Jim Hogg counties. It

is abundant and dominant where properly managed in these counties. Used for pasture,

hay and dune revegetation. Has been tried as far north as Guthrie, Oklahoma, where it

survived the cold but did not produce seed. Near Decatur, Texas and near Minden ,

Louisiana it produced good vegetative growth but failed to flower early enough to

ripen viable seeds. Probably best adapted to the sandy soils of the 4 tiers of counties

next to the Gulf Coast and all the Rio Grande Plain. May be useful in the dune sands

farther west.

Likely Seed Areas. Pastures of Kenedy and other counties of the Rio Grande Plains

where it has not been reduced or eliminated by prolonged yearlong grazing. Patches

from a square rod to several acres in extent may be found in several counties. No

increase blocks have been established.

Managing for S^?ed. This bluestem is a poor seed producer in most years. It has a long

growing period and is inclined to develop flowers during the very short days of the
-18-

year before the temperatures prohibit further growth. The first racemes begin to

appear about mid-October. Flowering is well under way but not completed by Nóvennber 1.

Seed is harvested from November 15 to December 15 depending on the moisture. During

some years flowering is arrested by drought and never resumed. The seed-producing

areas should be checked during the late flowering period and again before harvest to

determine potential yield. Shriyeled seed may be abundant in a dry fall.

Harvesting. Early harvests were made with a sickle. The seedhay was topped and placed

in a sack, dried on a canvas and resacked. Binding and curing in the shock is probably

the easiest way to harvest the seed. Selected areas in some of the counties will have

native stiffids that can be handled with a binder.

Combining is possible with well ripened material. The resulting seeds will be very

trashy.

For dune control this grass has been cut and spread on open dunes. If taken at the

time seeds are ripe this is a practical way to control small blowouts or open dunes

and reestablish a cover. The seedhay must be punched in the moving sand to hold the

material in place.

Yields Under Cultivation. Not known. At the San Antonio nursery a block established

in 1940 produced some seeds about 1 out of 3 years and then only in limited quantities.

Cleaning. Topped seedhay is threshed in the combine and run over a scalper. For

planting from a grass-seed drill the combined seed must be run through a hammer mill.

Quality. Seacoast bluestem seedunit has the same makeup as other bluestems. The

purity of samples from native and nursery coll^^^^ions has been extremely low, averaging 12 percent, the 7-day germination 29 percent and the final germination SO^^rcent.

Many shriveled seeds are usually found in the seed lots. A pound of pure seedunits

contains 321,000 seeds. The units are about the size of those of little bluestem and

are difficult to separate from hairy units of the latter.

ANOLETON BLUESTSM (AndropOgOn ftod OS US )

Description, lÉáapttt^ioiri âfad Use. A fine-stemmed, branching, leafy perennial. Some of

the stems lean in a close stand. When the plants are separated, part of the stems are

prostrate tmâ root at the nodes. Uiider grazing, the stems spread and rooting is increased.

A deep-rooted grass with medium tufts and sparse fruiting stems; the purplish nodes

marked with a hairy ring; leaves moderately long and smooth, reduced in size on the

upper part of the stem; ligules short, firm, truncate or rounded with an irregular

margin; the stems just below the racemes rather densely hairy; fertile and sterile

spikelets crowded and overlapping, giving the appearance of a two-ranked scaly spike,

similar in size and color (purplish), obovate, flattened 7- to 9-nerved, hairy on the

lower half, and somewhat toothed at the tips; awn of fertile spikelet less than an

inch long, closely twisted and bent. The stem hairy at and below the racemes and the

broad overlapping spikelets distinguish this bluestem from any other now used in the

Region. It is an introduced tropical bluestem, adapted to rich, moist soils and rather

resistant to droufi^t. Extensively tried on the Texas Experiment Station at Angleton,

Texas under the name Andropogon annulatus. It also has been tested by the Texas Experiment Stations at Balmorhea, Lubbock and Chillicothe, Texas where it withstood the mild

winter of 1925-26^ At Temple, Texas the plants remained alive for several years. Its

most extensive use probably will be in rainfall areas above 30 inches and lower rainfall areas under irrigation, all in the milder parts of the Region. An excellent

grass for hay, pasture and waterways.

Likely Seed Areas. None. Scattered patches on the Gulf Coast Prairie are increasing

in size. Where planted or transplanted it seems to spread slowly in the native vegetation. Low seed production will naturally keep it confined to local areas.
^^E ^-A-5 jg

7

í

Coucosian bluestem,/Jn</ropoffon

intermedias caucosicus. Panicle; two

views of joint of a raceme consisting of fertile spikelet, stalked

sterile spikelet.ond hairy grooved

joint (./) ; two views of grain.

'¿'-

King Ranch bluestem,

Andropogon ischaemum.

Panicle; two views of

joint of a raceme consisting of fertile spikelet;

stalked sterile spikelet

(S),and grooved hoiry

joint (i/); two views of

groin.

Angleton ^Xue^Xem, Andropogon nodosus. Inflorescence;

two views of joint of a raceme composed of fertile spikelet, stolked sterile spikelet (5),and hairy joint

(^) ; two views of groin.

Little bluestem, Andropogon

scoparius. Panicle; joint (/?)

of 0 raceme composed of

fertile spikelet (F), stalked

sterile spikelet,and hairy

joint (y) ; same unit (/?,]

after passing through a

hammer mill; groin (5).

PLATE 2

Seocoost bluestem, Andropogon littoralis. Panicle; joint

of raceme composed of fertile spikelet, stalked sterile spikelet (5),and hairy joint ( /).
-19-

Potential Yield and Quality. The chief objection to the continued use of this grass

is its failure to produce enough seedsterns and filled spike lets to warrant seed harvest.

An average of 3 such stems per square foot is considered excellent. Usually the average

is less than one. Production should be increased to 5 or more stems per square foot

before yields aré reasonable. Considerable trial work must be done on this grass before

the seeds can be marketed commercially at a fair price.

The first seedsterns appear in May and if moisture remains favorable others will continue to appear throughout the summer and fall. Mowing or uniform grazing may help to

increase the number. The grazing animals should be removed several weeks (usually by

May 1) before the maximum number of stems are expected. Fill is erratic. Seldom do

half the fertile spikelets contain grains. Pinching the spikelets is an easy way to

determine fill. But the examiner should be sure he is selecting the awned fertile

spikelets to test. If the awns have fallen it is not easy to separate the two kinds.

The seeds are harvested when the grains are in the hard-dough stage. Shattering is

usually delayed until the seed material is dead ripe and dry.

Production Under Cultivation. Twenty pounds of seedunits with a 40 percent fill is a

good acre yield. Ten or 15 pounds is probably nearer the average.

Harvesting. Most seeds from small blocks have been harvested by cutting the tops and

sacking them. This is expensive where the stems are scattered.

The seeds combine about like King Ranch bluestem. Much of the seed material is carried

out with the tailings which should be saved and hammermilled or spread out on other

planting sitesi Seeds of higher purity will be obtained if the material is mowed,

cured and threshed slowly. Small acreages can be handled as seedhay by topping the

stems and hauling them green or cured to the new planting site.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seeds must be dried before sacking.

Cleaning. Any cleaner with a good fan will clean the seed. The spikelets are removed

from the heavy trash by blowing them out of the dust cone and trash exit with the fan.

The heavy trash is then taken out through the grain spout.

Quality. The seedunit is made up of the fertile spikelet, the joint of the raceme and

the stalk of the neutral spikelet. Cleaned seeds usually contain a mixture of seedunits

and neutral spikelets and because of that and low fill, the average purity is only

43 percent. The 7-day germination is 45 percent and the final germination 79 percent.

Both the 7-day and final germination are high for the bluestems. A pound of pure seed

contains 234,000 seedunits. The seeds should not be held longer than 2 years before

planting.

LITTLE BLUESTEM (Andropogon scoparius )

Adaptation and Use. Little bluestem occurs throughout much of the Region east of longitude 100** and west of that longitude in the sands. It is adapted to a wide range of

soils in rainfall belts above 25 inches. In the Cross Timbers it increases rapidly

under good grazing management following the removal of the oaks. In cut-over pine

land, it helps to control erosion until crowded out by shade and litter from secondgrowth pine. It is equally important for hay and pasture west of the pine belts.
-20-

In many problem areas in soil conservation, particularly in the true and mixed prairies

and eastern plains, stands have been greatly reduced by yearlong and close grazing,

and the species replaced by inferior grasses.

Likely Seed Areas. Seed areas range from the Coastal Prairie northward throughout the

prairies of Texas and Oklahoma and in sections of the West Cross Timbers and Rolling

Plains. Large blocks may be found in the sand plains bordering many rivers. It occurs

in pure, or nearly pure stands more often than big bluestem, particularly on wellmanaged pastures. Such pastures are now considered the most dependable of all sources

of seed in quantity. By inspection of the pastures in the spring, arrangements can be

made to defer grazing after June 15, or at a later date to permit proper stem development.

Following the seed harvest, grazing can be resumed.

Experience shows that natural meadows are not a dependable source of seed. Usually

the meadow is cut for hay after July 15 when seedstems have made considerable growth.

This apparently precludes the possibility of a large number of stems developing after

the summer cutting. Even when meadows are cut by July 1 before any elongation occurs,

the stems that develop later in ordinary years are too few to justify holding for a

cutting of seed in the fall.

Railroads of northwest Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have many miles of nearly pure

little bluestem or mixed bluestems on the right-of-ways. In most places, this material

can be cut with a mower or topped with a stripper and used as seedhay or threshed.

Permission to harvest the seed has always been easy to obtain.

Potential Yields and Quality. As stated above, preliminary surveys of possible seedproducing arelas should be made in the spring and summer. A brief outline for determining

seed potential is as follows: (1) Locate and treat seed areas so that full culm production will occur if and when it rains, (2) in mid-August visit the areas and determine

stem production (if rains come late, the stems may not push up until after mid-August).

If only one or two stems per tuft are found, the area will be worthless for seed production, (3) if stem production is normal, i.e., 4 or more per tuft and the tufts closely

spaced, revisit the area about September 25 to determine progress of blooming and stage

of grain development, (4) on or after October 1, revisit area and sample the seed for

fill and quality. At this time, potential yield and quality can be determined by

pinching the base of sessile, fertile spikelet. If most of the purplish-colored grains

are squeezed out intact, the crop is ready for harvest; if a third or more of the

grains squeeze out as soft milky dough, the seeds will be ready in another week. If

less than 5 out of 50 spike lets checked at random contain a developing grain, the fill

is only 10 percent and is considered poor and not worth harvesting. If 15 out of 50

are filled, the material is fair or good. If 25 are filled, the material is excellent.

Many such checks made in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana during October 1942 showed a

fill of good or excellent. Seed yields of such material with heavy stem production

may be as much as 600 pounds per acre. This fill is very definitely tied vp with rainfall, soil moisture and air temperature. Good soil moisture in early July assures

culm production. Good soil moisture in late August and most of September ordinarily

assures seed production.

Production Under Cultivation. Under dry-land conditions at San Antonio, Texas, production in rows under cultivation varies greatly from 100 to 300 pounds of seed per acre.

Yields from pastures will average less, 75 to 200 pounds per acre. Under irrigation,

the yields could be 500 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. The harvest season generally is from October 1 to November 1. In exceptional

years, it may be earlier or later. In 1942 the harvest period was after November 1.

The optimum period is about October 10.
-21-

Direct combining is entirely satisfactory. The operator must be prepared to complete

the job in the shortest possible period before wind, storms and frost cause a quick

dispersal of the seedunits. The air-blast on the combine is cut off conpletely, only

the top adjustable sieve (chaffer) used, and the space above the tailings auger covered

So nothing returns to the cylinder for. rethreshing . Cut long straws. Set the cylinder

speed at about 1000 to 1200 RPM and the cylinder spacing at about 3/8 inch. Avoid

overloading the separator by adjusting the forward speed of the combine to the stand

of grass being cut.

Harvesting with a grain binder, stacking and threshing is a satisfactory method of

obtaining seed. The same precautions as when combining should be used. A cloudy day

with high humidity permits the most economical threshing.

Cutting the seedhay with a mower or binder, raking green or while damp and then hauling

directly to the field to be planted is an economical way to harvest and plant little

bluestem, particularly where small acreages are involved. This practice was used to

some extent in the early days by foreign-born settlers. The home-made, topping-stripper

constructed in centfal Texas works well on little bluestem.

Hand-cutting the tops of seedstems on areas where machines cannot be used is economical

where labor is cheap. A good man with a half-sickle will cut 30 to 100 pounds per hour.

The weight of the seed in the tops varies from 15 to 40 percent. One man, therefore,

should be able to hand-cut about 100 pounds of seed per day, enough when cured to plant

5 acres. Topping is most economical where each bunch contains many stems.

Care of Fresh Seed. Seeds from the combine should be spread out and cured for at least

a day in sun and air. When cured in a building the seeds should be piled not to exceed

a foot in depth, stirred twice daily to prevent heating and the room ventilated to carry

off the moist air.

Cleaning and Processing. Seed material from the combine and usually from the stripper

is normally low in purity. It contains considerable straw and other coarse material.

A cheap method of removing this trash is to run the material over or through a scalper.

The fanning mill will accomplish the same thing.

The ordinary hammer mill serves better than any other machine for producing plantable

seeds from trashy material:

1. It partially frees the material of awns, hairs and other appendages.

2. It reduces the coarse trash to a uniform size.

3. It makes the mass of seed easier to handle in drills and planters.

Quality. Seeds from a combine have a purity range of from 2 0 to 65 percent. In the.

upper range, some good seeds are lost in the chaff that passes over the covered chaffer

extension. New seed is low in germination. Tests in Missouri indicate that maximum

germination of stored little bluestem seed is at least a year from date of harvest.

Seeds from the northern part of the Region have a lower initial germination than those

from the southern part. Therefore seeds from northern Oklahoma should be planted in

January and February in order to obtain the necessary alternate freezing and thawing

(alternation of temperatures) to place the embryo in readiness to germinate. The average laboratory germinations of many samples is 31 percent in 7 days and 48 percent total.

The average purity is 30 percent, the average number of seedunits per pound of pure

seed 269,000, and the longevity 3 years. The seedunit is the fertile spikelet, the

joint of the raceme, and the stalk of the sterile spikelet.

948413 0—51 4
-22-

SIDEOATS GRAMA (Bouteloua curtipendula)

Adaptation and Use. Sideoats grama is one of the most widely distributed grasses in

the Region. It is adapted to a variety of Soils and conditions. It is found on the

slopes of mountains, is common in shallow eroded soils, and may be a minor grass in

the tall grass prairies. It remains in soils of alkaline reaction in low rainfall and

low altitude belts longer than in neutral or acid soils. It is rare in the sandy soils

of the Forested Coastal Plain.

Its principal use is for grazing, although a small amount in good meadow land is not

undesirable. It can be used in pasture mixtures in most of the Region west of the timber

belt. Exceptions to this are the deep sands of the Rio Grande Plain and other parts of

southern Texas and the rainfall belts below 14 inches at lower altitudes.

Likely Seed Areas. Pure stands of sideoats grama are not common. The most promising

areas for the collection of seed with machines are in central, western and northern

Oklahoma and Kansas and in the Panhandle of Texas. Frequently in the Texas Panhandle,

the grass makes sufficient growth in the sunmer after good rains to produce a late seed

crop. Under these conditions, large quantities of seed can be taken. A good way to

handle collections of seed is to determine locally in the spring where the stands are

of sufficient density to produce seed in quantities. In case rainfall and other weather

conditions are favorable, watch such areas for stem production.

Seed increase plantings have been established by many soil conservation district

cooperators in Oklahoma and Texas.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. The séedunit of threshed or combined seed is

usually the spike. Where the material is broken up in combining or processing, it may

be a mixture of a variety of units, such as spikes, partial spikelets or naked grains.

Sideoats first blooms in midsummer, at a time when humidity and temperature are unfavorable for pollination. Seed crops are rare at that time. Where good late summer rains

occur, conditions are more favorable for pollination; and a second lot of seedstems may

develop (this seldom takes place in an area where an early seed crop was produced).

The seedset then is usually higher than in early or midsummer. A casual examination

of a stand of sideoats grama can be very deceiving to the eye, as the sterile spikes

have the same external appearance as fertile spikes. Seedset is usually low in sideoats

grama. A, good fill is one in which 75 percent of the spikes have one or more of the

spikelets (fertile florets) filled. Any time the percentage of filled spikes gets as

low as 10, the material is of doubtful quality, as this represents only 2^ percent of

the fertile florets filled (assuming the average number of spikelets in a spike to be 4).

Determining quality and fill in the field resolves itself into determining what percentage of the spikes possess one or more grains. This can be done from the milk or

early dough stage to after maturity of the grain, which represents a period of two to

three weeks. Take the spike between the nail of the thumb and flesh of the forefinger

and press along the rachis. Usually one pinch will force out the immature or mature

grain. If a hundred spikes are pinched at random in a field and 10 or more contain

grain, the material may be worth harvesting and the checker can be fairly certain he

has sampled the area adequately.

In certain years sideoats grama is attacked by an insect, the larvae of which feed on

the developing grains and possibly the stamens. In the soft-dough stage, these larvae

are pink-skinned; and when pinched out, the pink contrasts with the usually green color

of the immature ovary (developing grain) or the amber of the mature grain. If such

insects are comnon, a thorough sampling should be made.

During the pollination period, moisture conditions may become reduced, and normal

exsertion of the anthers and stigmas does not occur in many spikelets. In other words,

there is not enough moisture in the plant to produce turgidity and ordinary exsertion
-23-

of the floral organs. This is common in drought-stricken stands. The anthers under

most conditions are colored pink. Under droughty conditions, they remain inside the

bracts. When an inspection for potential yields is made, the pirik-colored anthers may

be mistaken for a developing grain.

During 1949 a stem rust ruined the seed crop near Dalhart, Texas by stopping seed

development. Too much moisture was the cause of increase of the rust.

Production Under Cultivation. Sideoats grama is one of the easiest grasses to grow

under cultivation. It should be planted in rows and cultivated like any other row crop.

Yields under dry-land cultivation range from 100 to 300 pounds, and under irrigation

from 400 to 600 pounds or more per acre in two or more cuttings a year.

Harvesting. The harvest season varies from July 1 to October 1, depending of course on

rainfall and soil moisture. Since the spike development is not uniform, the period for

harvesting is often short, of 1 to 2 weeks duration.

The combine is coirmonly used to harvest the seeds. The sickle is set hi^ so as to top

the seedstems. The cylinder speed is reduced. The wind and sieves are adjusted to

allow all the spikes to shake through the sieves without mixing in too much chaff,

since the weight of the empty spikes will vary but little from the filled ones. Where

speed is necessary to complete the harvest, the seed material coming from the combine

will probably need recleaning, if clean seeds are wanted.

A field of sideoats grama can be bound with a binder and threshed. Where this operation

is local and the seeds are to be used close by, the bundles can be spread on the field

to be planted and scattered by hand. Mowed material can be used in the same way.

The bluegrass stripper does a good job of harvesting the tops of sideoats grama, but

the material will need cleaning for planting from a cotton box hopper and drill.

Care of Green Seed. When seeds are combined at the optimum period, a large percentage

of the grains may be soft and immature. Respiration is rapid in such seeds. Therefore

treat the green seeds in a manner that will prevent heating and molding.

Cleaning and Processing. Combine-run seeds usually contain varying amounts of stems

and leaves which should be removed before planting. Quality can be greatly improved

by re-running the material through the combine with close chaffer setting and a light

air blast; by running the material over a scalper; or by cleaning it in an ordinary

fanning mill. Regardless of the cleaning method used, special drills are required to

plant the seeds.

It is difficult to process sideoats grama uniformly using a hamner mill. Hammermilled

material contains some free grains in the mixture of trashy florets and spikes. These

should be removed in a fanning mill to obtain a uniform planting material. It is not

reconmended that sideoats grama seed material be processed in a hammer mill unless the

intent is to reduce the entire lot to clean grain.

Quality. The purity of the seeds from the combine or thresher is generally less than

30 percent. It varies from almost 0 to 90 percent. Seeds (based on the spike as the

seedunit) having a purity below 15 to 20 percent are of doubtful value for marketing,

and below 8 percent of questionable value for even local use. The average purity of many

samples of spikes in the laboratory was 21 percent, the 7-day germination 51 percent,

and the final germination 58 percent. The units are fairly readily germinable. The

dormant period is short. Where the seed material was broken down by hammermill ing

to florets and grains, the 7-day germination was increased to 65 percent and the final

germination to 85 percent. There are 143, 000 seedunits (spikes) in a pound of pure

spikes, 250, 000 in a pound when the units are mixture of spikes, florets and grains,

680,000 in a pound when the units are florets and grains, and 719,000 in a pound of pure

grain.
-24-

BLACK GRAMA (Boute loita eriopoda)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A perennial bunchgrass with slender, wiry, arched

stolons that root to form an open turf. Most stems partially or wholly covered with

close woolly hairs; leaves short; spikes 3 to 8, usually 4 or 5; spikelets prominently

awned, not crowded; fertile floret and grain slender; rudiment (undeveloped floret)

slender, the stalk bearing a tuft of hairs, the awns long. A grama of the dry hills of

southwest and far west Texas and the Black Mesa of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Grows on

limestone and granitic, usually shallow soils, although not entirely limited to such

conditions. Has probably increased in most areas, as less drought-resistant grasses,

like the andropogons and blue grama, are crowded back through overuse and erosion. Used

for grazing.

Likely Seed Areas. Slopes west and north of Van Horn, Texas mostly in Hudspeth County,

and in Loving, Ward and Winkler counties.

Potential Yield and Quality. Black grama growth follows the summer rains. Should the

rains fall in August, stem and seed maturity may be delayed until near frost. Stems

normally elongate in September, flowering occurs in early October and seeds are mature

by or during the last 2 weeks of October. This date will vary with changes in soil

moisture and rainfall. Fill will depend on conditions during the bloom period. Extremely

hot and dry weather will usually result in poor fill. Under exceptionally good conditions, stem production may equal 5 stems per square foot. Usually it is less.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields are low under cultivation and will not exceed

100 pounds per acre under dry-land conditions. Seed yields from pastures seldom exceed

50 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. The most economical machine to use is the seed stripper. Start the machine

as soon as the spikelets are near the shattering point. If plants and tops remain

tough the machine will pull more of the plant into the machine and increase the trash

content. Regulate height adjustment so that only the spikes are stripped. The linear

speed of the machine should be adjusted to take in only the tops and to keep out other

parts of the plant.

Consider well the area to be harvested according to the machinery available so that the

main harvest does not cover more than one week. High, dry winds will soon blow out

fully ripe spikelets. The seeds can be harvested with a combine but the practice is

not economical when the low yield is considered.

Care of Green Seed. The seed material can ordinarily be cured outdoors if loosely

sacked and exposed to the wind and sun.

Cleaning. Properly stripped seed contains some trash some of which can be removed

by a vibrating scalper or fanning mill. This process is more efficient in damp weather

because then the rudiment awns tend to hug the floret. Hammermilling stripped seed

material will produce plantable seed.

Quality. ^ The seedunit consists of the filled fertile floret and awned rudiment which

does not separate from the floret. There are 1,300,000 in a pound of pure seed. Most

material received at the laboratory is rather low in purity (37 percent), the 7-day

germination is 11 percent and the final germination 22 percent. This is a low average

7-day and final germination. The known longevity is 4 years, but generally the seeds

should not be held longer than 3 years before planting.
Sand bluestem, Andropogon halli. Inflorescence; joint of róceme composed of sessile fertile spikelet(f), stolked sterile spikelef and hoiry

joint (J);two views of grain; a banono-stiaped, horny mass or sclerotium

of ergot tliot often replaces ttie normol grain.

CD y^i^

Sideoots grama, Bouteloua curtipendulo.liio

panicles; seedunit or spikelet (5), floret (F)

witti rudiment (ff), and three views of groin .

i//

,<o

Big bluestem, Andropogon furcotus. Inflorescences and

joint of raceme composed of sessile fertile spikelet, stalked sterile spikelet (5),and hoiry joint (i/); two views of groin.

Block gromo, Bouteloua ariopoda. Part of plant and

spikelet (5); fertile floret and slender owned rudiment

(ff) exposed; three views of groin.

PLATE 3
-25-

SLENDER GRAMA (Bouteloua filifornis)

Adaptation and Use. Slender grama is a tufted, fine-stemmed perennial, native to the

Rio Grande Plain of Texas, south of the Nueces River, and westward to Arizona. It

thrives best in the medium and fine-textured soils that are freely to slowly permeable

and alkaline in reaction. The vigor of the seedlings is remarkable on the Edwards

Plateau where it has been tried extensively. This may be due to the increase in rainfall,

in altitude and to the fewer long, hot, dry periods. Seedlings will survive on the

Plateau on rock ledges as long as any of the grasses. Under Arizona conditions, it is

rated as an inefficient plant during hot, dry periods. For efficiency of reproduction,

it is exceeded only by species of threeawn and red grama. In Val Verde County, Texas,

on exposed rocky slopes, seedlings have always replaced old plants following years

of extreme drought. In such locations, at least three flowering periods occur annually.

Trials indicate it can be planted and stands obtained in northern Texas, but natural

increase is doubtful. The plant loses its competitiveness when planted that far out

of its range, because it lacks cold resistance. It has more value than hairy grama

in mixtures of sideoats grama, little blues tern and Texas wintergrass in the adapted

medium-rainfall areas. Not recommended north of latitude 31^.

Likely Seed Areas. Small areas may be found along railroads in the Rio Grande Plain.

In addition to the seed supplied to soil conservation districts by the San Antonio

nursery, one commercial seed grower (near Uvalde) is known to be growing seeds as a

regular crop. Seed multiplication blocks are increasing in the Dos Rios District

and other places. There is a need for more seed production, to supply the needs in

southwestern Texas.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Slender grama produces bristly spikes which

are the normal seedunits unless broken up by processing. The units are bulky, awny and

difficult to sack and handle. The 2- to 5-flowered spikes are pale-green when developing

and straw-white when mature. When white, they shed easily. When green, the grains are

in the soft-dough or medium-dough. The fill is easiest to determine at this stage.

The mature spikes can be pinched to force the grains out. A high percent of the spikes

may be empty if conditions during the flowering period do not permit proper pollination

and fertilization.

Production Under Cultivation. Under nursery dry-land conditions, production has been

erratic. The first crop planted was the most successful, yielding 100 pounds of seed

after 9 0 days of growth. Three crops a year can be taken if the fertility is renewed.

The average annual yield per acre will not exceed 100 pounds.

Harvesting. Seeds mature from late June to frost, depending on moisture. The plants

never stop flowering if moisture is available. Stripping the spikes is now considered

the most economical way to harvest, using the bluegrass type of seed stripper. Start

the stripping shortly after the first spikes drop and when most of the remaining ones

will conplete their ripening.

The seeds can be combined. But because of the difficulty of picking up the semiprostrate stems and because the cut material is hard to move through the augers and

elevators, this method is not as practicable as stripping. In separating the spikes

from the straw, close the chaffer to the point where it will allow the spikes to pass

through and let the straw ride over. Cut off all air. Combined seeds are always trashy.

In several soil conservation districts excellent stands have been obtained by mowing

the stems while a little damp, raking and spreading the seedhay on the field or pasture

to be planted. Immature spikes will often develop more viable grains under these

conditions.
- 26-

Care of Green Seed. Trashy strippings and combine material contain considerable moisture.

Spread such material on drying canvases or platforms and thoroughly dry if further

cleaning and sacking are intended.

Cleaning and Processing. In order to plant slender grama spikes from a cotton box

planter, the trash must be removed. This can be done by running through a hammer mill

and then through a fanning mill. Material from the hammer mill can be planted from

a 2-wheel, No. 4 1ime and fertilizer distributor. Hammermilled material produces a

mixture of spikes, spikelets and free grain. When large lots of material are treated,

it may be advisable to separate the very small grains from the trashy units and plant

separately in adapted grass seed drills.

Quality. The ordinary seedunit is the spike. It may be a mixture of spikes, partial

spikes and florets if hammermilled. A pound of pure filled spikes contains 206,000

seedunits; a pound of pure mixed spikes and spikelets 365,000 seedunits; and a pound

of grain contains 1,428,0 00 units. The average purity of spikes is 23 percent, of

mixed spikes and spikelets 3Í percent and samples of grain 55 percent. The 7-day germinations of these three kinds of units average 28 percent, 20 percent and 55 percent,

respectively; the final germinations 45, 39 and 55 percent.

From these tests, it is evident that the grains germinate in a 7-day period. Fluffiness of the other units which prevents moisture from reaching the grain would be the

main reason for delayed germination.

Seeds of slender grama have retained good viability at the San Antonio nursery after

5 years of storage.

BLUE GRAMA (Bouteloua gracilis)

Adaptation and Use. Blue grama occurs throughout the drier parts of the plains from

Canada to Mexico. Although frequently associated with buffalograss, it does not have

the range or importance of buffalograss in Texas and Oklahoma, except in some parts of

the High Plains and in the Desert Grasslands, the latter, west oif longitude 103°. Its

extension eastward has been limited, whereas buffalograss has invaded the wetter prairies.

Its present eastern limit begins on a line west of Del Rio, Texas that passes northward

through the western counties of the Rolling Plains, then eastward to Sherman, Texas,

then north through Oklahoma. Southward in Texas, it appears to be limited in its

spread eastward by low altitudes, higher rainfall and taller grass competition. Trials

now indicate blue grama can be used somewhat east of its natural range.

Its use is for grazing and erosion control; occasionally it is cut for hay. In recent

years, several commercial seed firms have been harvesting and buying seeds which now

are handled by many dealers throughout the Region.

Likely Seed Areas. The High Plains of western Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and eastern

New Mexico and Colorado have been sources of seed in the past. The Marfa Highlands

of southwestern Texas is another likely source. Good yields are associated with heavy

rainfall at least a month prior to the harvest season. Pastures that produce heavy

yields of seed one year rarely produce profitable yields the next year. Two crops may

be obtained in some areas in the same year.

Determining Potential Yield and Managing for Yields. Predicting yields in advance of the

harvest is difficult, because the plants often bloom profusely, then the soil moisture

becomes exhausted and the grains fail to mature. If soil moisture is determined to be

sufficient to mature the seed, early diagnosis of production is fairly certain. Uniformly

thick stands of seedstems possessing 6 grains per spike should be profitable to harvest.

Six grains per spike is equivalent to a 15 percent fill. Material of lower quality may

be harvested for local use where cost is not the prime factor. As the grass approaches
-27-

maturity, a pre-harvest test can be made by pinching the fertile floret of each spikelet.

Oftentimes the immature grain will ooze out as a green-covered milky substance. If

mature, it will be amber-colored. If 2 out of 4 florets are filled, the material is

excellent. Yields from good pasture areas may produce 300 pounds of seed per acre.

The average more nearly approaches 100 pounds. The method of harvesting influences

the yield greatly.

If a seed crop matures in late July or early August, it often is of low quality, as high

temperatures prevent proper pollination. Should the period of pollination be accompanied

by moist cloudy weather, the chances are better for a crop. Seeds produced in September

and October, ordinarily before the first frost, are usually the best. A slight frost

does not affect ripening. The florets shatter quickly when high winds follow a sharp

freeze. They then may be lost in a period of a few days. Under conditions of drought,

frost and high winds, the harvest season seldom lasts more than 7 days. Under reversed

conditions, the florets may remain on the spike for weeks.

Production Under Cultivation. There has been no demand to place the grass under cultivation for seed production because somewhere in the region native stands have produced

seed at an economical price. Farm seed plots outside the general range of the species

should be encouraged.

Harvesting. Direct combining is a satisfactory method of harvesting. Begin when the

seeds are in the hard-dough stage. The air is cut off, and only the chaffer is needed

in the cleaning shoe. The cylinder-concave spacing is 1/4 to 3/8 inch, and the cylinder

speed near 1200 RFM. Cover the opening above the tailings return auger so that material

coming off of the chaffer rides out of the combine instead of being returned to the

cylinder.

Windrowers can be used if the cutting is started before the spikelets have reached full

maturity. This allows the material to cure out in the swaths or bunches. It can then

be threshed with a combine or stacked and threshed after the heating period is over.

Higher seed yields are often obtained with these methods.

Bluegrass strippers work efficiently, when the upper part of the plants have lost their

toughness to allow stripping. Strippers can be operated at a lower cost than combines.

Where hay is desired as seeding material, the crop can be mowed and moved while danp

and spread on the field to be sodded.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed material must be cured before sacking. It can be

hauled to an open shed and turned daily for several days to prevent heating. Placing

the combined seeds on a rack where the air can circulate beneath it will cut the cost

of curing. Any method of forcing air through the seed will reduce the cost of curing.

Cleaning and Processing. Blue grama seed material from the combine usually requires

some cleaning prior to planting. This can be done with a scalper, or by running the

trashy seed back through the combine in the presence of a gentle air blast. During the

1949 harvest near Marfa, Texas, seed from the stripper was aired, hammermilled and

sacked ready to plant. No scalping needed. Special grass drills are required to plant

either floret material or clean grain. The latter can be obtained by processing carefully and thoroughly with a hammer mill, but is not a common practice.

Quality. The purity of blue grama depends primarily on the original fill and care in

harvesting. A large number of laboratory samples consisting of florets and spikelets

had an average purity of 39 percent, a 7-ciay germination of 60 percent and a total

germination of 65 percent. The dormant period is short, and the longevity about 4 years.

There are 795,000 trashy filled florets in a pound.
-28-

HAIRY GRAMA (Boute loua hirsuta)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A small-tufted perennial bunchgrass; stems slender

and spreading, averaging 12 inches in height; basal leaves 3 to 5 inches long, hairy;

inflorescence of 1 or 2, seldom 3, spreading spikes, the midrib of which is naked above

the middle and ending in a prominent sharp point; spikelets hairy, the glumes with long,

black-based hairs and the rudiment without hairs. This small bunchgrass is distributed

throughout most of the grasslands of the Region and has increased in the tall and mid

grass areas. It is adapted to most soils regardless of alkalinity and acidity. Its

use is for grazing and then in mixtures of better grasses.

Likely Seed Areas. Never found in pure stands of any size. Local areas of less than

an acre occur in the West Cross Timbers and Grand, Reddish and Coast prairies.

Potential Yield and Quality. Hairy grama is a warm season grass. Stems are produced

in July and August; flowering occurs from late August to late September. The average

ripening period of the spikelets is the last two weeks in September, although this

depends on soil moisture. Each plant normally bears from 5 to 15 stems and each spike

contains from 25 to 35 spikelets. Seed yield depends on the number of filled florets

which seldom is half the total number. When the average number of stems per square foot

is 10 and the fill is 50 percent the yield is 25 pounds of pure seed per acre. This

represents a near maximum yield. Normally 40 pounds per acre of trashy seed of 25

percent purity is considered a good yield.

When still in the soft-dough condition 7 days after flowering, the fill can be determined by pinching along the midrib of the spike and counting the number of soft green

grains that ooze out. This is the best period to check fill. After the seeds are ripe,

fill is best determined by counting a given number of florets and shelling them out in

the hand, or cutting across each one with a knife. Shattering begins soon after maturity.

Some years the spikes retain all or most of the florets until after frost. This is a

good indication of no fill or low fill.

Production Under Cultivation. Has never been placed under cultivation.

Harvesting. Hairy grama can be combined after the florets begin to shatter, as at this

stage they are easily separated from the stalk. By using medium speed and spacing of

the cylinder, closing the chaffer one-half, keeping the shoe sieve three-fourths open

and increasing the shaking, most of the seeds can be carried to the seed bin without

choking the return auger. When mixed with green stems of other plants the cylinder and

shaking speed must be increased to sift the light florets through the sieves.

Where hairy grama is mixed with weeds and other green plants, as little bluestem, mowing

while the dew is on, raking and bunching while the plants are tough is a good way to

cure the seed material. Only the best spots should be cut. The bunches can be threshed

with less difficulty than the standing plants.

As with most gramas, the stripper is a useful tool to harvest the seed cheaply.

The seedhay also can be mowed and scattered immediately on the area to be seeded.

Curing Green Seed. Trashy seeds from the combine should be dried before sacking.

Cleaning. Trashy seeds can be run over the scalper to remove the bulk of the trash.

It may be necessary to rub the screen to get the fluffy florets through. If the scalped

seeds remain trashy they can be hammermilled and planted without further cleaning. The

trashy seeds from the combine or stripper also can be put in a plantable condition with

a hammer mill.

Quality. Most samples of hairy grama received at the laboratory are of low quality,

because cleaning to pure seed is difficult in any cleaner. The seedunit is the fertile
Slender gromo, Bouieloua filiformis. Two growing plants; spikelet (5); fertile floret (,F), infertile floret(/),and bore rudiment

of third floret (/?); three views of groin.

Tall gromo, Bouteiouo hirsutapectinaia. Inflorescence;

two glumes (5), and fertile floret with port of owned

rudiment (/?) exposed; three views of groin.

Hoiry gramo, Bouieloua hirsuta. Inflorescence and spikel»t; rudiment (Af), end four views of groin. PLATE 4
-29-

floret and the prominently awned rudiment and is called a trashy floret. The seeds in

a mass are light and fluffy. The average purity of all samples is 26 percent, the

7-day germination 13 percent and the final germination 39 percent. There is a normal

dormant period of 1 to 3 months or longer after harvest, as in nature the seeds do not

germinate until early spring. The low total germination is probably due to the many

shriveled or poorly developed grains. A pound of pure seed contains 685,000 units

(trashy florets).

TALL GRAMA ( Boute lova hirsuta pec tina ta )

Description, Adaptation and Use. This variety is considered only a form of the species

by some Agrostologists and a distinct species by others. It has enough characters

to distinguish it as a species. A tufted grass, which stools to form crowns as much

as 10 inches in diameter; stems stiff, often 3 feet in height turning straw color in

the fall and bearing 3 to 6 spikes; leaves medium long; spikes straight an inch or

more long bearing 40 or more spikelets and usually ending in an undeveloped spikelet;

florets 40 or more per spike, larger than in the species, the rudiment with 2 tufts of

short hairs. Tall grama ranges through the shallow limestone prairies and Edwards

Plateau of Texas to the limestone hills of southern Oklahoma. It is limited to shallow

or rocky limestone hills or caps where the grass cover is naturally thin. It does

not thrive in the deep soils in competition with taller grasses. Useful for erosion

control and grazing when mixed with such grasses, as sideoats grama and little bluestem.

Likely Seed Areas. Limestone hills and slopes of the Grand Prairie that have lost

most of the bluestem cover.

Potential Yield and Quality. Tall grama has about the same growing period as hairy

grama, but the flowering and fruiting peripds are normally later. If moisture is low

in August and September flowering may be delayed until early October or as late as the

last week in October. The nuirber of stems per plant seldom exceeds 10. Five per square

foot is an excellent stand. Seed yields are low.

With few stems per plant, an average of 3 spikes per stem and 40 spikelets per spike

the total number of seedunits per acre is equal to or exceeds that of hairy grama.

TVenty-five pounds of pure seed per acre is a high yield in fairly pure stands. Careful

examination of the seed material before harvest is necessary to be certain of sufficient

fill for harvest. Shattering begins soon after maturity and is accelerated by a heavy

frost.

Production Under Cultivation. This grass is not cultivated for seed except in plots,

but if planted in rows the yield should exceed that of native stands.

Harvesting. Tall grama can be stripped with a bluegrass stripper when the site is not

too rocky. Most of the spikelets must be near the shattering point for best stripping.

Smooth areas can be combined but usually the blocks are too small for economical operations. Mowing and scattering the seedhay is a good practice where the plantings are

to be made locally. This provides needed mulch for the protection of the seeds and

eliminates the cost of harvesting and cleaning.

Care of Green Seeds. Cure stripped or combined seed material on canvas before sacking

or cleaning.

Cleaning. By running the stripped or combined ma)terial over a scalper most trash can

be removed. For mixture plantings and where all the florets have not been separated

from the spikes, it may be advisable to run the seeds from the scalper through the

hammer mill. Hammermilling the stripped or combined material also produces plantable

seeds.
-30-

Quality. The seedunit of tall grama is the trashy filled floret. It is considerably

larger and heavier than the unit of hairy grama. There are about 500,000 in a pound

of pure seed. Uneven ripening of small lots collected in past years has produced seeds

of only fair quality and low purity.

RESCUEGRASS (Bronus catharticus )

Adaptation and Use. Rescuegrass is an annual (under certain conditions biennial)

bunchgrass which germinates and grows during the cooler months of the year. It was

introduced into the United States over a hundred years ago. It received its common

name in 1853, and since that date the seeds have been in the trade. Rescuegrass is

best adapted to humid regions with mild winters, beginning its growth in the fall,

growing during the milder parts of the winter and cooler part of the spring, and maturing

in May. It behaves as a winter and early spring annual. It is a rich-land grass.

Its best growth-range is probably in the soils derived from limestone or those containing lime. In such areas, particularly in the humid sections, it is naturalized in

parks, pastures, on roadsides, m waste places and yards. It is most used for grazing

and is often overseeded on short grass pastures, although under favorable conditions

(deep, well-watered alluvial flats) it is grown for hay. A very growthy form, Texas 46,

has been developed, increased and certified by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Likely Seed Areas. City lots, parks and roadsides are the best seed areas. In such

places, seeds mature and germinate each year undisturbed. Satisfactory stands may be

found on many areas where the native grasses are kept short in the fall. Several

growers supply seeds to local areas, but not in the amounts to meet the demand. A

good deal of seed is imported from Australia.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Flowering begins as soon as the inflorescence

unfolds. Generally it is not uniform within the inflorescence. The spikelets are large,

often an inch in length, flattened and made up of 4 to 12 florets. The lowest florets

bloom and ripen first. During the milk or early soft-dough stage, the florets are green.

As they age, they turn pink and later light brown. During the pink-bronze stage, the

grain is in the medium-dough stage or even harder. Seeds harvested during this stage

will be viable. If a wait of one week occurs, the florets shatter. Fill and yield can

be estimated by cutting across or pinching the individual florets.

The empty and poorly developed florets are most often found at the tip of the spikelets.

If on sampling the stand, more than half the spikelets are empty, the yield will be low.

It is a rare thing to find more than half the florets empty in a year when moisture is

adequate. A light seed crop may be expected when the rainfall is light during March

and April. The total yield of seed depends on the density and development of the stems

and inflorescences. When the inflorescence droops at midstage of development, one can

be almost certain the spikelets are well filled. If they point straight up, it will

pay to examine them closely. If the number of seedstems is 10 per square foot and the

development otherwise is normal, a good yield may be expected. With only 2 or 3 seedstems per square foot, the yield is questionable.

Production Under Cultivation. A broadcast stand on fertile land that has been rogued

of weeds may yield 600 to 800 pounds of clean seeds per acre. Under irrigation, the

average yield is considerably higher. Cases are on record of a crop of hay and a

fairly good crop of seeds having been taken from a field in one year.

Harvesting. The seed harvest begins about April 1 in south Texas and is 5 weeks later

in northern Oklahoma. The maturity of the seeds varies with moisture and the general

temperatures (a cold spring will delay the harvest). The period of harvest seldom lasts

more than 10 days in any one locality due to the easy shattering of the spikelets.
-31-

The bluegrass and two-reel strippers are good machines to harvest rescuegrass seed.

The combine also is a good implement to harvest rescuegrass. Start the machine in the

early stages of shattering; cut close enough to reel the seedstems onto the canvas;

keep the reel speed down to prevent scattering of the shattered spikelets; run the

cylinder just fast enough to complete the shattering; use some air and open the chaffers

part way. A few growers cut and windrow the seedhay as shattering starts. Curing is

completed in the swath. Heavy storms will beat some of the florets off the stems.

The combining should start as soon as the material in the windrow is cured.

A lawnmower, rigged to strip the stems and shielded to catch shattered florets, works

successfully in short-stemmed plants.

Care of Green Seed. A shock is due anyone who harvests and threshes semigreen rescuegrass seed and puts it in a sack. In 12 hours the material will be so hot that only

constant stirring in moving air can prevent loss in viability. It is difficult to

properly cure the seeds on a concrete floor unless the room is force-ventilated. The

best curing is when the seeds are placed on a rack or canvas in the open where air can

get to them from all sides.

Cleaning. The floret bracts cling to the grain and cannot be removed by processing.

A well-developed floret is about two-thirds the size of an oat seed. Since the grain

makes up more than one-third of the weight of a filled unit, the empty florets,can

easily be separated from the filled florets with any cleaning mill, and high purities

can be obtained without any processing.

Quality. The seed of rescuegrass is the smooth filled floret. Lots properly harvested

and carefully cured and cleaned should have a purity and germination of 90 percent.

Laboratory analyses show an average purity of 94 percent, a 7-day germination of 38

percent and a final germination of 85 percent. Fresh seeds remain dormant for several

months, as the 7-day germination figures point out. Seeds of low quality usually lose

their viability by the end of the second year after harvest. Some samples of high

quality seed have remained viable for 5 years. In purchasing rescuegrass seeds, be

sure of the source, the age and the date of the last germination test.

SMOOTH BROME (Bronus inemis )

Description, Adaptation and Use. A long-lived, leafy perennial, spreading from strong

underground stems, and forming a dense even sod; stems 2 to 3 feet tall, smooth; leaves

broad, smooth and with closed sheaths; panicle erect, the branches in whorls; spikelets

usually smooth, somewhat conpressed, the florets usually bearing a short awn. Naturalized in the northern and central states; cultivated for hay and pasture, and suitable

for waterways. Usually grown with alfalfa for permanent pasture and mixed hay. Adapted

to regions of moderate rainfall and low to moderate sunmer temperatures. Under dry-land

trials it shows promise in the northern part of the Region. Considered suitable under

irrigation through northern and western Oklahoma and the High Plains of Texas. Prefers

rich loams and clay loams. Southern strains from Kansas and those recommended by the

Oklahoma Station should be used. Among those are Achenbach, Lincoln and Fisher.

Established blocks should be watched for adaptation characteristics suitable for

southern growth conditions.

Likely Seed Areas. None established in the Region.

Potential Yield and Quality. Growth in this Region will be best in cool weather and

least in winter and in summer, except at higher altitudes. The stems elongate at the

beginning of hot weather; flowering occurs in June, and fruiting during July. Under

dry-land conditions seed formation may be erratic. North of our Region 75 percent of
-32-

the florets usually are well filled. That percentage will be lower here. A fill of 40

percent will be suitable for seed harvest. Poorly developed florets will be common

in thick stands.

An examination of the field should be made during the period when the spike lets are

turning brown. The average fill is easily determined by pulling near-ripe florets from

about 50 plants and cutting across 100 with a knife. The thin grain is easy to see in

cross-section. The mature florets do not shatter as readily as do those of some bromes.

Yields depend on stem production and on good moisture relations during the flowering

and fruiting period.

production Under Cultivation. Yields as high as 700 pounds per acre have been reported.

The average is from 200 to 500 pounds. When cultivated in rows on fertile soils, yields

should be 500 pounds an acre.

Harvesting. Two methods of harvest are used. (1) Bind the seedstems when most of the

florets are ripe, cure in open shocks and thresh with a combine or thresher; (2) confoine

when most of the florets are dead ripe.

Use the cylinder speed (1000 to 1200 RPM) necessary to separate the florets without

breaking the straw; set cylinder clearance at 3/8 and 1/2 inch; carry the chaffer threefourths open, the shoe sieve one-third open, and cut off all or most of the air. For

clean threshing use a special 5/32 x 3/4 screen below shoe sieve.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed should be dried before full sacking.

Cleaning. Final cleaning of seeds can be done in a fanning mill or 3-screen mill.

Fair quality material requires careful adjustment of sieves, feed and wind to clean

to 85 percent purity once through the mill.

Quality. The seedunit is the smooth filled floret. Well-cleaned, plump seed lots

should have a purity of 90 percent. This allows some percentage for partially developed

grains. Most seed lots have a purity around 85 percent, a 7-day germination of 65 percent and a final germination of 85 percent. The number of filled florets varies from

136,000 to 150,000 to a pound, although one author says there are as many as 200,000.

Known viability in storage is 4 years. Seeds normally should not be held longer than

3 years before planting.

BUFFALOGRASS (Buchloô dactyloides)

Adaptation and Use. Buffalograss occurs naturally in the Western Gulf Region from

the Coastal Prairie near Houston to Brownsville, Texas northward west of the eastern

timber belt. It is usually absent from or rare in the wetter prairies adjoining the

timber belt and in the area west of longitude 104°. Most of the mixed prairies originally

contained scattered plants. Under grazing, or after the taller grasses were reduced

in stature and numbers, the buffalograss spread. This increase extended into the drier

sections of the tall grass prairies. Buffalograss is of great importance in the heavy

and loamy soils and absent or of no importance in the sands.

Buffalograss is used largely for grazing. It and blue grama are the most important

pasture plants of the High Plains. In sections of the Rolling Red Plains and Grand

Prairie where sheep have grazed the pastures yearlong over a period of years, the

buffalograss turf prevails over all other grasses. In much of the Edwards Plateau of

Texas it remains in and along the draws and flats, while curlymesquite (Hilaria belangerij

stays or has replaced it on the uplands.

Buffalograss, because of its desirable turf qualities, is in demand for revegetation

purposes. Sod in the immediate vicinity of land to be regrassed has been used. Since
-33-

seeds have been on the market, the increase has been mostly from plantings. The seeds

can be used to revegetate golf courses, lawns, athletic fields, air fields, f>astures,

borrow ditches and banks along highways and pasture waterways. The supply is now nearly

in balance with demand.

Likely Seed Areas. In this Region the most likely seed areas are around the playa

lakes of the High Plains and Edwards Plateau, and the closely grazed pastures of the

Grand Prairie, Edwards Plateau and intermountain flats just west of the Edwards Plateau.

Other areas may be found in the Blackland and Central prairies of Texas and Oklahoma.

It does not take a large block of pure buffalograss to produce considerable seed. Areas

most likely to produce are those that have been managed so other grasses have been

eliminated or reduced. Sheep pastures such as are found in the Grand Prairie of Texas

are good seed blocks. There is no rule that will serve as a guide to seed production.

The seed areas must be visited and investigated to determine that.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Assuming that we have possible sites in mind

for obtaining buffalograss seeds, the best plan is, (1) visit the area in April and May

and note the number of pistillate (female) and stamina te (male) spikes produced and the

distribution of the two sexes. Also note the stage of flowering. (2) About 12 days

after the full bloom period, make another visit to determine potential quality and

yield of the immature spikes (burs). Examine 50 burs at random throughout the field,

or fewer if the seed block is small, by cutting across each one and noting the number

that have grains. If harvesting is to be made from the ground, examine some of the

burs lying on the ground that were produced in previous years. The mature grains are

usually a little pinker than hard wheat and less than 1/16 inch in length and width.

There are 1 to 4 grains per bur. The average is approximately 1.6. (3) Estimate the

number of filled burs per square foot by using the rule that 1 plus per square foot

equals about a pound per acre. A hundred per square foot equals 100 pounds and more

per acre. If the number of filled burs is fewer than 25 per square foot the material

is doubtful for harvesting, assuming that only two-thirds of all the burs will be taken.

Of course, this is a matter of availability of labor, total relative costs and urgency

of need. Certainly material of the low yield of 16 pounds per acre can not be harvested

economically with machinery.

Production Under Cultivation. Cultivating for seed production has not been tried on

any scale in the Region. It was successfully tried at the Fort Hays Experiment Station

by L. E. Wenger who states: "Establishing seed fields of unproved types of buffalograss on which irrigation can be practiced is one method of assuring a successful harvest

of seed every year. Yields of some of the selected strains of buffalograss at the

Fort Hays Experiment Station have equaled 1000 pounds of seed per acre during the year

the stand was in its prime. Under cultivation a field planted for seed is the most productive about the third year. During its entire productive life, which usually is from

5 to 6 years, an acre of buffalograss under irrigation will produce about three times

as much as it will during its most productive season. In the case of the 1000 -pound

strain, 3000 pounds would approximate the entire production from an acre of land. At

the end of the fifth or sixth year renovation or replanting is necessary as weeds begin

to come in. Growing improved strains under cultivation, but without irrigation is not

as dependable as where artificial water can be supplied. However, the yields for the

first few years usually exceed what can be expected from native pastures. *»

Harvesting. There can be no definite period designated for harvesting seeds of buffalograss. Usually the first spring crop is mature around June 20. Some years the crop

may mature earlier or later. Very often burs accumulate on a pasture from two or more

crops in one year. If of enough inportance, these can be harvested any time that weather

and other conditions permit. The current crop on standing grass should be harvested

before shattering is very evident and while many of the burs are still green.

948413 0—51 5
-34-

Various methods and kinds of machines involving several principles have been constructed

and used to secure the burs.

1- Combines . Grain combines equipped with auxiliary motor and lespedeza guards have

been used successfully. To handle the short stems horizontal extensions of the

cutting bar have been adapted. This allows the bar to ride just above the surface

of the ground. Flailing bats or brooms must be attached to the reel bats to push

the material back onto the canvas. Where the seeds terns are tough and green, fast

cylinder speed is necessary. This requires removal of the concaves in order to

prevent breakage when stones get into the cylinder. There is no special advantage

in any one type of cylinder. It is important to remember the combining must be

done before many of the burs have fallen but not before the majority are nearly

ripe.

The seedhay can be combined from the windrow or cock. The material should be

loosely windrowed if later threshed by the moving combine.

The seedhay can be cut, raked damp and cured in the cock. Later the cock is

stacked and threshed until the machinery is available. The seedhay also can be

mowed damp, raked and spread directly on the planting area.

2. Flailing machines. One type involves the principle of pieces of chain attached to

a revolving reel. The burs and some trash are caught in a pan. Another type is

the lawnmower. At the Blackland Experiment Station at Temple, Texas a lawnmower

was altered by removing the cutter blade, cutter bar and roller, and fastening a

shield above the reel to deflect the shattered burs into the grass catcher. To be

successful the foliage had to be of a height that the mower-reel could handle. As

no actual cutting occurred most of the foliage passed beneath the mower. The

power lawnmower is a handy machine for harvesting the burs from small or large

grazed areas that are fairly free of stones and debris. It works well in closecropped pastures where the burs are produced within an inch of the ground. The

machine should be equipped with height swivels, grass catcher and a shield that

starts at the back edge of the cutting bar and extends far enough over the reel

to permit all cut material to flow into the grass catcher. Such a machine is

easily adjusted for cutting from 1/2 inch to 3 inches above ground.

3. Suction machines. The suction principle for picking up light burs was one of the

first to be tried. The first machine used a small gasoline motor to run a suction

fan to which was attached a heavy hose and suction nozzle. A nozzle guard reduced

the size of the nozzle opening and kept out stones and sticks. The machine worked

well in small blocks relatively free of debris. It would not take seed from the

ground when much foliage screened the nozzle. On closely grazed areas relatively

free of top growth one man could collect a good amount of seed in a day.

Another machine was constructed using revolving agitators in the nozzle, similar

to the revolving brush in some vacuum cleaners, to loosen the material on the soil.

One of the latest suction machines, powered by a V-8 motor, has a 25-inch suction

fan that pulls the material through a vacuum- box. This allows the burs and heavier

material to drop into a cylinder cleaner that removes the burs from the smaller

material and results in seeds of relatively high purity (50 percent). The pickup

attachments consist of 3, 12-inch metal shoes attached to flexible hose connections.

This arrangement permits a movement to conform to the uneven surfaces of the turf.

A wire brush is attached in front of each shoe to loosen any seed that may be in

drifts. The machine is usable only on grass that is grazed fairly close. Yields

of 250 pounds per acre of 80 percent purity are on record for this machine.

4. One machine embodies the principle of the whirlwind lawnmower. The revolving

cutting blade operates near the ground and lifts and blows the cut material into

the cleaner.
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5. The wind-blast machine reverses the principle of the vacuum cleaner. The high

speed fan forces air through the foliage and litter on the ground » after an agitator stirs the material, in such a manner as to lift the burs and trash into the

catching mechanism.

Burs collected by some vacuum and wind-blast machines generally contain a high

percentage of trash or foreign matter of about the same weight as the burs, which

makes cleaning difficult and expensive.

6. fía nd- ha r ves t ing burs with stable brooms is economical. One method is to loosen

and sweep the burs into small piles and then into dust pans. Usually one man

operates the broom and another the pan. This method is recommended for farmers who

are going to plant the trashy material without further cleaning. Sweeping is easier

when the seed-producing area is located on gentle slopes where the burs with other

trash collect in small drifts. The drifts should be swept up before the growth of

the grasses interferes with the sweeping.

Another source of seed to be taken with brooms and shovels may be found in woven

wire fences at the foot of slopes in buffalograss pastures. After intensive rains

seed-bearing litter from the pasture collects on these fences. The mixed trash and

seed should be collected before it disintegrates. Sometimes high-water drifts of

almost pure burs are left along intermittent streams in flash-flood areas.

In buffalograss pastures where the large red ants are common, several pounds of clean

seed may be found around a single ant mound. Some farmers have found it economical

to sweep up these seeds.

Care of Green Seed. Burs harvested during the summer from standing foliage contain

enough moisture to heat and mold if sacked at the machine. Cure this on a canvas in the

open. Dry burs from the ground do not need further curing. Wet burs from the ground

should not be sacked until dry.

Cleaning and Processing. Seeds harvested with a combine or other machines, and containing mainly top-growth material from the grass plants usually can he satisfactorily

cleaned with a fanning mill. Use round-hole screens at the top of the mill to permit

the burs to pass through, and slotted screens at the bottom to remove pieces of stems

and other material similar in shape and size to the stems. The trash may need a second

cleaning.

Seeds harvested with suction machines and brooms and containing a preponderance of trash

do not clean to a high purity with an ordinary fanning mill. On the first run through

the mill the coarse and very fine material separates out. A second run through the

mill still leaves a high percentage of trash. Two runs through tlie mill nearly always

clean the seed where it can be planted with a cotton planter. Much of the seed distributed from the San Antonio nursery in the past 6 years has been of less than 35 percent

purity.

Processing buffalograss seed material involves the use of considerable msichinery.

Running the material through a hammer mill at low speeds removes the manure and most

of the pieces of wood, but often breaks up some of the burs and frees the grains which

mix with the fine material to make two classes of seed.

Clean processed burs do not germinate any better than unprocessed burs. They do handle

better and cost less to ship. They contain less trash and bulk and handle easily in

the germinater. But for ordinary field planting, either in a drill or cotton planter,

they are not better, for the drill or planter can be regulated to accommodate the mixture as well as the pure seed. The cost of processing small lots will always be a

factor in determining the desirability of processing.
-36-

Quality. A bushel of clean filled burs weighs about 15 pounds. Old weathered burs

that have lost the points from the bracts nnay weigh less. The number per pound varies

from 30,000 to 65,000. The average is 48,000. Of a large number of samples analyzed,

the average purity is 65 percent, 7-day germination 16 percent and total germination

67 percent. Most commercial seed now has a purity of 90 percent or higher. For general

planting, the quality of the seeds depends first on purity and second on germination.

At the Fort Hays, Kansas Experiment Station, Wenger found: "Germination of buffalograss

normally is very low usually running less than 10% in untreated seed. Seed that has

been allowed to weather on the ground for a considerable period sometimes may exhibit

slightly higher germination. This type of seed is usually obtained by the vacuum or

wind-blast machines where the seed has been allowed to lay on the ground during one or

more winters. Usually the germination of the best of this seed does not reach 40%,

the figure that should be considered a minimum for germination of seed that is to be

planted without treatment. If the seed does not germinate as much as 40%, special

treatment should be employed to overcome the natural dormancy.

"Good germination of samples indicating low germination can be obtained by treating

the seed in the following manner: Soak the seed for 24 hours in a 0.5% solution of

salt peter (potassium nitrate). Then chill at 41° F for six weeks. The seed should be

maintained thoroughly wet during the chilling period even if it means resoaking for

short periods at intervals during the chilling. Immediately following the removal of

seed from chilling, thorough drying, enploying temperatures below 110° Fahrenheit should

be accomplished. At temperatures higher than 50° F, the drying process should be

completed within a 24-hour period to eliminate the danger of having the seed sprout.

Once treated in this manner the seed can be handled in the usual manner or stored for

at least two years without any lowering of germination.

"Use of the above treatment on any lot of low germinating seed, in which the viability

has not been injured, will raise the germination to 75% of the potential germinating

strength of that lot of seed. A 0.5% solution is prepared by mixing one-half pound of

salt peter with 100 pounds of water. For the sake of convenience the seed is usually

handled in bags during the soaking and chilling phases of the treatment. '*

At the Soil Conservation Service Laboratory at San Antonio, Texas, the following method

has obtained the highest germination (to within 10 percent of the count of filled burs )

for the past 5 years: Prechilling or stratification of burs for 4 weeks at 5° C (41° F)

in moist soil consisting of equal parts of sand, local black clay soil and screened

acid peat. After 4 weeks (cold) stratification in petri dishes, tests are moved to

room temperature where most of the burs germinate within 7 days. The laboratory was

unable to obtain increased germination by presoaking the seed. Miscellaneous tests of

burs 2 or more years old indicate no pretreatment (chilling, soaking or alternation

of temperatures) is necessary for germination.

Wenger's method is more practicable for small seed producers.

RHODESGRASS (Chloris gayana)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Rhodesgrass is a perennial bunchgrass producing runners

that root at the joints. The stems are leafy and end in a cluster of spikes, 2 to 4

inches long. Introduced into this country in 1902. Some of the early seed was distributed along the Gulf Coast in 1904. Although placed under trial at the experiment

stations, the results of the early experiments did not indicate its true value, since

stock would not eat it readily if other more palatable plants were present. Its vigor

of growth, long growing period and heavy seed production indicate it to be well adapted

to heavy soils near the Gulf Coast, particularly on the west side bordering the Rio

Grande Plain. It thrives best on the deep rich loams and sandy-clay soils. It will
-37-

not persist on shallow hardpans. It makes excellent growth on poor, deep sandy soils

if properly fertilized with nitrogen.

Tests in different latitudes plainly point out its limitations to cold. It should not

be planted as a perennial north of a line running east and west through Austin, Texas.

It can be used as an annual in cultivated land as far north as Oklahoma but is not

reconmended for that climate. It has no place in range revegetation or rainfall areas

below 25 inches, where it must compete directly with native plants. It is excellent,

where adapted, for reseeding abandoned land and for irrigated valleys, where it may

become a stray along irrigation ditches. It is of equal value for hay and for pasture.

On rich soils, it is used as a combination hay and pasture crop. It fits well into the

conservation cropping system in South Texas, e.g., Rhodesgrass or Rhodesgrass and sweetclover 3 years - row crops 2 years.

In recent years, this grass has become a major host for a scale insect, Antonina graninis.

This insect is common in the vicinity of Kingsville, Texas. It fastens itself to the

formative tissue just above the nodes, from below the well-aerated groundline to several

inches up the stem, in positions where it is protected by the leaf sheaths. It reduces

the vitality of the plant, and when droughts occur the plant may die. The King Ranch,

the first prominent user of Rhodesgrass, has now substituted other grasses in its pasture

and hay program, partly because of the attacks of this insect. Winter-hardy and insectresistant strains are needed to increase the use-area of this grass. Cold-resistant

strains are being developed.

Likely Seed Areas. During its 45 years of trial and spread, Rhodes grass has not become

naturalized in the Western Gulf Region. Occasional colonies may be seen along highways,

irrigation ditches and other points where there are excellent tenporary growing conditions.

All seeds are harvested from improved pasture or cropland, or inported from Australia.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. In the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas the

first crop of seeds matures from June 10 to July 5. Flowering begins in late May and

more or less continues as the stems develop. In a single field, therefore, the flowering

periods may be of several weeks duration. Seed development, under these conditions,

is not uniform, and examinations must be made in order to start the harvest at the right

time. The early or first crop is the most productive one. Inspection of seed development should be a week or 10 days after flowering begins and be repeated each week.

Seed formation is determined by separating the lowest or fertile floret from the upper

empty ones and pinching it. Select only the florets that are beginning to lose their

color. Potential yield can only be estimated. If one-half of the fertile florets are

filled, the crop may be considered excellent. Fill as low as 10 percent may be harvested

for local planting.

Production Under Cultivation. All production of seed and hay is from cultivated stands.

For seed, plant in rows to permit one or two cultivations to control weeds and increase

the vigor of the plants before the **middles" fill in. If moisture is not too limited,

the growth will completely cover the ground by the end of the first year. Where the

crop is grown primarily for grazing, the seeds may be drilled or broadcast. For increased stem production, side-dress the rows in early spring of the second year with

30 pounds of nitrogen per acre.

July seed yields from February seedings in rows, under excellent dry-land conditions,

have been as high as 350 pounds per acre with a purity of 40 percent. If the plants

are kept vigorous, old stands will produce as much. The average annual yield at San

Antonio from 3-or 4 harvests is about 400 pounds. Most of the lots are not cleaned

to a high purity. Under irrigation 4 harvests should yield 600 pounds of good quality

seed per acre. The cost of harvesting, cleaning and sacking seldom exceeds 12 cents

a pound.
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Harvesting. Seeds from Rhodes gras s in South Texas can be harvested about 3 times

each year, if the grass is used only for seed during the growing season. The harvests

are spaced approximately as follows, using the information obtained under dry-land

conditions on the San Antonio nursery: June 22, August 10 and September 25.

Binding is one economical way to harvest because the slow curing of the stalk and stem

permits the threshing of a higher quality and quantity of seed. The binding should

begin after some dispersal of the early maturing florets and while the late flowering

ones are still in the dough stage, or during the midstage of grain development. After

thorough curing for about 2 weeks in the shock, the bundles may be threshed with a

combine or thresher.

Most operators prefer to combine the seeds directly from the standing stems. Start

the conJoine several days later than binding should begin, and after 5 to 10 percent

of the spikelets have shattered. Usually only the tç>per third of the stems are taken

into the machine. Since the stems and leaves are still green, taking more than this

will cause trouble in the cylinder. Cylinder speed should be 1400 to 1600 RPM and

clearance about 1/4 inch to handle the green straw and break tç) the partly green spikes.

This should not break up the stems and leaves to the point where they will later clog

the sieves.

A modification of this method of combining has been tried. The sickle is set lower so

as to take about half the straw. The combine is set to thresh only the riper material.

The tailings and straw are raked into windrows while still danp, allowed to cure thoroughly, and again combined. The second lot of seed, from the straw, usually contains

a high percentage of shrunken grains and is of lower quality.

Where seeds of high purity are obtained directly from the combine, experience in adjusting the combine is inportant. Only by trial and error can one combine high quality

seeds that do not need further cleaning in a fanning mill. Even then, some good seeds

pass out with the tailings.

Rhodes grass can be topped with a bluegrass stripper and the resulting mixture run

through a thresher or combine to obtain clean seed. The 2-reel stripper also should

be economical to use.

For local plantings where mulch is needed to control wind and water erosion, the seedstems can be cut low with a mower and the damp seedhay hauled to the field and spread

out or lightly disked to keep it in place.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds from the combine are too wet to sack and must be cured and

dried several days.

Cleaning and Processing. At the San Antonio nursery, most combined seeds are recleaned

in the fanning mill to reduce the amount of light trash present. Some eirpty florets

can be removed, but very high purities are hard to obtain. One run through the fanning

mill will clean a rather trashy lot enough to readily pass through the hopper of a

cotton planter or grass drill. Processing is not necessary to obtain plantable seed.

Quality. The seedunit (trashy floret) is composed of the fertile floret, the second

enpty floret, and one or two rudimentary florets. This group has been called a spikelet.

Laboratory analyses of many seed lots give an average purity of 33 percent, a 7-day

germination of QQ percent, and final germination of 93 percent. The 7-day germination

of pure grain is 70 percent. There are 1,700,000 seedunits in a pound of pure seed and

2,970,000 grains in a pound. The dormant period of trashy units is short; the longevity

in storage is 5 years.
Smooth brome, Bromas inermis. Plont ond spikeletfS); two

views {F) of floret (seedunit), ond ttiree views of groin.

Buffologross, Buchloe dactyloides. A pistillate plant and spike

or bur (seedunit); stominote inflorescence (5) ond spikelet ;

0 groin-beoring floret (O from ttie bur, and ttiree views of

groin.

Û

Rtiodesgross, Chlon's goyano. Inflorescence of mony

spikes; normal floret arrangement in spikelet; (/)

fertile (seed-bearing), {2) empty ond (J) a rudiment;

two views of groin.

PLATE 5
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BERMUDAGRASS (öynodon dactylon)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Bermudagrass is a vigorous turf-forming perennial

forming underground stems and runners above ground. Extreme variation in size and types

of plants occur. Short-leaved and short-stemmed plants have been segregated. Several

high-yielding forage strains have been selected.

Bermudagrass is native to India and perhaps other parts of the old world. It is

completely naturalized in the southern states and is now recommended for pastures on

the better soils throughout all the first and most of the second tier of states north

of the Gulf of Mexico. It makes its best growth on rich, moist bottoms and in rich

uplands that retain their original fertility. It is best adapted to well-drained soils.

It will tolerate some salinity.

Its greatest use is for pasture, filling the same position in the southern states as

does Kentucky bluegrass in the northern states. In northern Arkansas the two grasses

overlap, the bluegrass making good growth on the northern exposures, the Bermudagrass

on the southern exposures. In parts of the Gulf Coast states the grass is commonly

mowed for hay. It withstands close grazing, but like any grass it should be allowed

periods of rest to hold its vigor and keep out poor-quality competitive vegetation.

A third most important use is for vegetating pasture and meadow waterways and small

drainage areas.

Likely Seed Areas. Most of the seeds planted in the Region come from the irrigated

valleys of Arizona and southern California. It has been generally assumed that native

strains do not pollinate and produce viable seed, but check sanples sent to the laboratory over a period of years show definitely that in certain years seed production and

fill are high in parts of Louisiana and Texas, That fact was very noticeable during

May 1943 all through southern Texas. Seven sanples taken from Riviera to Coqjus Christi

and San Antonio had an average fill of 67.7 percent. Other areas in south Texas have

been checked since 1943. It is found that hardly a year passes that this grass does

not produce some seeds. During the past few years, at least 2 growers have harvested

several thousand pounds on the Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas.

Seeds are found where the grass is managed for the greatest stem production. Roadsides mowed at intervals on many of the state highways have large areas of pure stands

of Beriaidagrass. Wherever seedsterns are dense and areas large enough, a likely seed

area may be present. Yet because of the erratic way the seeds develop in the humid

belts there is no way to predict yields.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. The small, one-flowered spike lets of Bermudagrass are borne in 2 rows along a slender axis. Pick a single spike of the several at

the end of a seedstem, count the nuixber of spikelets, rub all in the palm of the hand

until the florets are rubbed out, blow the chaff away, then press each floret with the

thumb nail. If filled with a grain it will not dent easily. Several spikes examined

at random will soon show whether there are many grains present. To more accurately

determine the quality of the material, sample the area by clipping one or more stems

from each of 100 scattered plants; place them in a sack or take them inside out of the

wind; thresh on a blotter or board, and cut across a fair sample of the florets with a

sharp knife. A hundred florets from the well-mixed sample will give a fairly accurate

record of fill and quality. By counting the seedstems on a given area, the yield can

be estimated.

Harvesting. The seedstems of Bermudagrass seldom exceed 8 inches in length. Combining

is easy if the sickle can be lowered to within 3 or 4 inches of the ground. There is

not much danger of shattering unless the seeds are very ripe. By using heavy canvas

belt or broomstraw flaps on the reel bats most of the stalks will be cut and pushed

back on the moving canvas. Reel speed should be stepped up; cylinder speed and spacing

should be sufficient to separate the florets from the straw. A few ranchers in the Gulf
-40-

Coast Prairie are harvesting seed very efficiently by mowing, windrowing and combining

with pickup attachments. The cylinder is run at high speed, the chaffers kept nearly

closed and all air cut off.

Short-stemmed Bermudagrass can be cut with a power lawnmower equipped with a pan to

catch the seedhay. This type of machine seems excellent for collecting seedhay along

highways that are mowed several times a year. Such material could be collected locally

by farmers and carried directly to the field to be planted. It may be more practicable

to cure the seedhay thoroughly, put it up in small stacks and use it as seed material

when the time for planting is appropriate.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds taken with a combine must be carefully dried before sacking

or placing in a bin.

Cleaning and Processing. Unhulled Bermudagrass seed coming from the combine needs

only to be cleaned with a fanning mill. To obtain hulled seed, process with a hammer

mill. Use a 1/8-inch hole screen and RPM of about 1000.

Quality. Both hulled and unhulled seeds are on the market. The bulled seeds consist

mainly of pure grains, the unhiiHed of florets and some grains. Laboratory analyses

show the average purity of the unhulled seeds 98 percent, the 7-day germination 28

percent, the final germination 77 percent, and 1,580,000 in a pound of pure seed. The

hulled seeds (grain) are 98 percent pure, have a 7-day germination of 56 percent, a

final germination of 87 percent, and 2,051,000 per pound. Based on these figures, and

disregarding the importance of the high percentage of readily germinable hulled seed,

the price of unhulled seed on the market should be about 68 percent of that of the

hulled. Unhulled seeds are probably worth about half that of the hulled, when proiper

evaluation of the readily germinable hulled seeds is made in terms of a 7-day stand.

The cost of hulling should not exceed 5 cents a pound.

ORCHARDGRASS (Dactylis g I one rata)

Adaptation and Use. Orchardgrass, called cocksfoot in England, is a native of Europe.

It was first cultivated in Virginia in 1760 and is now naturalized in this Region as

far south as central Arkansas. It is a long-lived bunchgrass with somewhat flattened

stems and long, folded or flattened bright green leaves. The flowers are clustered on

the upper sides of stiff branches,

Orchardgrass starts growth early in the spring, flourishes on rich soils, and grows

well on poor soils and in moderate shade. It is especially useful for late winter and

spring grazing in the Ozark Plateau soils and in northwestern Arkansas and northeastern

(^lahoma. It is used in irrigated mixtures in western (^lahoma and western Texas and

is showing promise uncter trial in the Blackland of North Texas. It is also being tried

in irrigated pastures in southwest Texas. It is grown in mixtures of red, alsike and

Ladino clovers and alfalfa. In some northeastern states it is proving valuable in

pastures with Ladino clover. In the southern and southwestern parts of this Region the

hot midsumner temperatures and reduced soil moisture will prevent its use under dry-land

conditions.

Likely Seed Areas. Pastures and fields of northern Arkansas.

Determining Fill and Managing for Seed. The fill of orchardgrass is fairly uniform and

seldom fails. Just before time to harvest, check the fill by squeezing the florets

between the thumb and forefinger. The soft slender grain in the medium- and hard-dough

stages breaks easily. Well-spaced bunches produce more stems and seeds. Stem and seed

production increase on run-down stands after applying 100 pounds of nitrate of soda per

acre in early spring. For maximum seed yields do not graze until after the seeds are

harvested.
-41-

Production Under Cultivation. Dry-land yields of seed range from 8 to 25 bushels and

average 12 bushels per acre. This is equivalent to 160 to 175 pounds.

Harvesting. Orchardgrass seeds mature in late May or before middle June. Two methods

of harvesting are used: (1) Binding, shocking and threshing, and (2) combining. Start

binding when the dry clusters (florets) break apart if struck by the hand or shatter

easily when rubbed in the palm of the hand. The stems are still green. The grain is

in the medium- or hard-dough stage. If cut earlier there is some shriveling, if later

too much shattering. Cut while damp, taking just enough of the stems to make bundles

and leave most of the leaves. If shattering is advanced, cover the bundle carrier,

pick the bundles off the carrier and save the shattered seed. Shock loosely with butts

apart to give good circulation of air, and without handling the tops. Cure for one

week and then stack, or cure 2 to 3 weeks and thresh from the shocks. Use a canvas on

the wagon when threshing from the field. If the field is to be cut for hay, the bundles

when dumped can be hauled to the threshing site and shocked in windrows.

Combining direct is a common method of harvesting. Begin when the florets break apart

rather easily but before shattering is advanced. The sickle is set as high as possible,

the cylinder is run at moderate speed and with good clearance; the shaker is speeded tç>;

the chaffer and shoe sieve left one-half open, and only enough air used to allow the

hairy florets to drop through the sieves. When bound, cured well in the shock and

threshed, the grain will be of a higher quality than when coirfh>ined direct.

Small acreages of orchardgrass can be harvested with bluegrass strippers that are

adjusted high enough to take only the upper half of the stems. Start the stripper

when the florets break apart easily.

Care of Green Seed. Material from the combine should be carried to the drying canvases

or drying rooms, spread out and stirred frequently to prevent heating and molding.

Cleaning. Threshed seed is normally clean enough for the market. Combined seed should

be run through the fanning mill to remove chaff and straw.

Quality. The seedunit is the filled floret. The purity averages 86 percent, the 7-day

germination 30 percent, the final germination 82 percent. There are 532,000 filled

florets in a pound. Fresh or even month-old seeds do not germinate readily, as the 7-day

germinations show. The junction between the lemma and palea is at first impermeable

to water. The dormant period usually exceeds 1 month. At the U. S. Regional Pasture

Research Laboratory, State College, Pennsylvania the germination of seeds 2 weeks old

at 22** to 28^ C. (recommended tenperature) was 23 percent, 4 weeks old 26 percent.

By subjecting the moistened, freshly ha^rvested and dormant seed to tenperatures between

5** and 15*^ C for a period of 10 to 14 days and then to 22® to 28® C, 90 percent germination was obtained. Daily alternation for 2 weeks of the low temperatures and 28® C

resulted in germinations of 95 to 96 percent. This suggests fall or very early spring

seedings to encounter the alternation of tenperatures necessary for maximum germination.

Threshed seeds nearly always germinate better than coirfjined seeds.

CANADA WILDRYE (Elynus canadensis)

Adaptation and Use. Canada wildrye is a winter-growing, perennial bunchgrass native

to most sections of the Western Gulf Region, but at present limited largely to protected

or semiprotected areas along roadsides, streams and bottoms. It has a relatively

high water requirement. The old plants begin growing in the fall after the weather

becomes cooler and may make considerable forage before winter if the moisture is sufficient. Seedstems form in early June. The seeds mature from late June to mid-July and

remain on the stems until the stalk breaks or until the spike is shattered.
-42-

This grass probably was of considerable importance in the original vegetation of part

of the High and Rolling plains eastward through some of the prairies. It has not withstood heavy yearlong grazing. Its present use is for winter and spring grazing. It

should be planted in pure stands or in pastures where rotation grazing is practiced.

Likely Seed Areas. One may find this grass in patches or scattered stands along ditches,

streams, railroads, roadsides and in bottoms. It is seldom found in areas large enough

to take with machinery.

Determining Fill and Quality. Seeds of this wildrye are usually high in quality; the

fertile floret is nearly always filled and plump. Estimated yields from the largespiked varieties collected in central Texas range up to 400 pounds per acre.

It is not an easy matter to determine fill in this wildrye, as the spikelets are arranged

in pairs at each node, and each spikelet usually consists of 1 fertile floret and 2 to

5 enpty ones. The fertile one, however, is larger and its fill can be determined by

pressure of the thumb nail and first finger. A fairly good appraisal can be made of

local material by examining 2 to 4 spikelets from 20 spikes taken from different plants.

It should be noted that the lemma and palea adhere closely to the slender grain and

remain a part of the seedunit. Canada wildrye is ordinarily ready for harvest late in

July or early in August in the northern part of the Region. In south-cent ral Texas,

the spikes are ready by July 10. The seeds do not shatter easily. The harvest period

may be extended over a period of several weeks. When harvest is withheld until a

nonth or more after ripening, there is a tendency for the culms to break under the weight

of the spikes.

Production Under Cultivation. Under row irrigation, seed yields are as high as 9 00

pounds per acre, while dry-land yields are seldom over 300 pounds per acre. The largest

block in the Region is on the Dalhart Land Utilization Project.

Harvesting. Any grain coirbine adapted to the terrain will harvest Canada wildrye.

The ripe clusters of spikelets break off easily. Cylinder speeds, therefore, need not

be any greater than for wheat. The space between the cylinder and concaves are so

adjusted as to thoroughly break up the spikelets and remove as many of the long awns

as possible without breaking the filled floret. Since the spikes are borne on a long

nearly naked stem, the total amount of straw will not affect the separation of grain

and straw. The chaffer and shoe sieve are kept nearly open and the wind reduced to a

low volume. An additional screen is not necessary.

Hand harvesting patches of wildrye is best acconplished with a half-sickle. The material

is headed and sacked as it is cut.

Care of Green Seed. If the seeds are taken when thoroughly ripe and do not contain

green tras h; drying in sacks is practicable.

Cleaning and Processing. Clean combine-run seeds can be planted with considerable difficulty, using a grass drill, and are not plantable with an ordinary grain drill. Processing in a hammer mill removes the long awns and generally should be done before

planting is attempted. After the processed seeds have been recleaned, they can be

planted with an ordinary grain drill, as well as with a grass drill.

Quality. The average purity of laboratory sanples consisting of florets is 78 percent,

the 7-day germination 42 percent and total germination 79 percent. Canada wildrye in

most cases requires more than 7 days to reach a good germination. One pound of pure

seed contains 121,000 filled florets. The longevity seldom exceeds 2 years.
I

Canada wildrye, £lymus canadgnsis.

Two spikes and spiketet; two views

(f) of floret (seedunit), and four

views of grain.

O ...I

Orchardgrass, Doctylis glomerata. Panicle;

spikelet and floret {F) or seedunit; two views

of grain. PLATE 6

Bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon. Plant and

spikelet; two views (F) of floret (unhulled

seed ) ,ond two views of grain (hulled seed).
-43-

VIRGINIA WILDRYE (Elynvs virgintcus)

Adaptation and Use. A cool-season perennial bunchgrass of low moist woods and along

streams. It is rare west of central Oklahoma and central Texas. The plants differ

from those of Canada wildrye in the stiff upright stems and spikes, the stiff-awned

spikelets, and the bowed glumes. Several varieties have been described, icanging from

short-awned and smooth-spiked to the bristly-hairy and long-awned forms. Adapted to

bottomland pastures and seasonal use.

Likely Seed Areas. Stream terraces and bottoms from northeast Oklahoma to east-cent ral

Texas. Usually the brush should be cleared before acreages of any size can be harvested.

Potential Yield and Quality. About the same as Canada wildrye. The ripening periods

of the 2 species are substantially identical when found in the same locality.

Production Under Cultivation. No figures available.

Harvesting. Same as Canada wildrye.

Cleaning. Same as Canada wildrye.

Quality. The seedunit is the filled fertile floret. San Antonio laboratory samples

have a 7 0 percent purity, a 7-day germination of 66 percent and a final germination of

84 percent. There are 73, 000 units in a pound. The known longevity without much loss

of viability is 3 years. In most cases storage probably should not exceed 2 years

before planting.

BOER LOVEGRASS (Eragrostis chloromelas)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Boer lovegrass is a long-lived, perennial bunchgrass,

native of South Africa. From seed it makes rapid growth, and in 3 years forms dense

clunks. The basal leaves, which make up the bulk of the foliage, are rather long

(24 to 36 inches), narrow, flexible, curving outward and characteristically bluishgreen in color. The seedstems are erect and rather stiff. The panicle is usually 8 to

10 inches long, open and erect, the branches stiffly spreading. Differs from weeping

lovegrass in having wider, bluish-green leaves, in the fewer, stiffer stems, the shorter,

upright, St iff-branched panicles and smaller seeds. The seeds were introduced from

South Africa in 1932 by Dr. J. F. Crider and planted at the Boyce Thompson Southwestern

Arboretum. In Africa, the grass grows in a climate "predominantly dry, with hot summers,

frosty winters, and an erratic rainfall of 12 to 2 0 inches falling mostly in summer".

Adapted to a variety of soils in the southwestern one-fourth of the Region. Trials

indicate it may be important in dune control on the West Gulf Coast and in sandy and

heavy soil plantings elsewhere. It lacks cold resistance and should be planted south

of the Red River. In critical rainfall areas prolonged cold will kill out established

stands. Useful for pasture and hay when properly managed to conserve vigor.

Likely Seed Areas. None

Potential Yield and Quality. Planted in early spring in rows, Boer lovegrass often

matures some stems and a light seed crop by early fall. Full development of the clump

seldom occurs before the third year. The plants should enter the fall period with

good leaf growth to build food reserves for the spring seed crop. Removal of the old

aftermath, about the time spring growth starts, by mowing or grazing followed by an

application of a nitrogenous fertilizer increases seed production. The flowering stems

develop early and mature seeds by early June. Seeds can be taken throughout the suraner

and fall if moisture remains good. The spring crop is the largest. Like weeping lovegrass, the seeds mature unevenly in a single inflorescence. Careful examination of
-44-

representative material is essential to learn the correct period when the most seed

will be available. This period is sometimes after the terminal spikelets of the branches

show signs of shattering. When about 25 percent of the grains indicate advanced stage

of ripening or when most of the seeds in the lowest whorl of the panicle have become

light brown in color the material is ready. Ordinarily there is a period of about

one week when the crop can be harvested without much loss.

Yield Under Cultivation. Seed yields are less than half the yields obtained from

weeping lovegrass.. Under average dry-land conditions, annual yields of 100 to 150

pounds per acre may be expected. Fifty pounds per acre is a good yield at any one

cutting. Under irrigation, the yield should be from 100 to 300 pounds per acre. At

the Tucson, Arizona Soil Conservation Service nursery over a 4-year period, the acre

yields were as follows: 1936, 8 0 pounds; 1937, 239 pounds; 1938, 85 pounds; 1939,

313.5 pounds.

Harvesting. Same as for weeping lovegrass.

Care of Green Seed. Same as for weeping lovegrass.

Cleaning. A several-screen fanning mill will clean Boer lovegrass. Use a round-hole

(1/20-inch) screen at the top to let the seeds through and a blank at the bottom, when

only small amounts of inert and chaffy material are present in the lot. When weed

seeds are present use a 1/25-inch round-hole screen at the top and a 40 x 50 mesh screen

at the bottom. Screens with larger openings can be used to remove the excess chaff,

or the seed material can be run over a scalper.

/

Quality. The seeds (grain) are seldom uniform in size. On the average they are a little

more than half the size and the same shape and color as those of weeping lovegrass.

Any lot will contain a small percentage of light-colored shriveled grains. In a pound

of pure seed there are 2,900, 000 grains. Fresh seeds are nearly always dormant for

several months. The average 7-day germination is 48 percent, the final 71 percent.

Purities are high and average 96 percent. The seeds have been kept in storage 4 years

and found to be quite viable. Under most conditions they should not be held longer

than 3 years before planting.

WEEPING LOVEGRASS (Sragrostis CUTVUla)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Weeping lovegrass is an introduced, perennial, bunchgrass with a deep, fibrous root system. The long slender leaves develop rapidly in

the young plants, and at maturity and in the large tufts they droop to the ground.

The seedstems often reach more than a yard in height and bear large, somewhat drooping

panicles. The spikelets are olive-green in color.

Introduced into Arizona several years ago from South Africa, it was soon placed on

trial in other states. It is apparently/adapted to a great variety of soils and conditions, except extremely alkaline soils. It grow^ on poor sandy acid soils too low

in nutrients for field crops without heavy fertilization, but responds to fertilization

and soils of higher fertility levels. Its reaction to winter temperatures has been

contradictory. It appears capable of withstanding rather low winter temperatures in

the presence of adequate soil moisture. It makes good growth in areas of high soil

temperatures. Its range is limited to about 15 inches of rair^fall and where not less

than 8 inches fall during the warm months. In comparison with native species, the

seedlings have a high mortality rate in heavy litter of the cedar brakes of central

Texas, but make excellent growth after complete establishment. The species has been

satisfactory for: (1) Controlling wind and water erosion, (2) a cover on land too poor

to grow field crops, (3) broad, shallow waterways of low velocity, and (4) hay, pasture

and soil inprovement. It is good for regrassing abandoned land and should be used

for supplemental grazing.
-45-

Likely Seed Areas. No seed areas to be found except as a result of artificial seeding.

Determining Yield and Managing for Seed. Seeds of weeping lovegrass do not mature

evenly in the panicle, nor do the panicles blossom at the same period. Usually the

spikelets at the tips of the branches mature first and those at the base of the branches

and base of the panicle last.

Careful examination at frequent intervals is necessary to learn the progress of seed

development. The average age of the grains can be determined by gathering spikelets

from the top, middle and base of the panicle and rubbing them out in the palm of the

hand. The young grains are whitish in color; the mature ones are amber and have a

dark scar opposite the embryo. When about 25 percent of the grains are amber, the

material is ready to harvest. Should the harvest be delayed, the ripe grains shatter

out. Time of harvest and approximate yields can be determined by counting the number

of spikelets to be hand-tested, taking the average number of florets in a spikelet,

and noting the relative number of ripe and immature grains.

The flowering stems of weeping lovegrass are few under some dry-land conditions. The

plant seems to need a shock to induce stem production. This has been accomplished by

fertilizing, close cutting, and in some nursery trials, by controlled burning at the

right time. Where the plants are widely spaced the seedstems are plentifully produced,

but when crowded, they are fewer. Irrigating sometimes will bring out the stems. A

side-dressing of 30 to 40pounds of nitrogen per acre in the spring after growth starts

will greatly increase the seed yield.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields under dry-land conditions range from 25 to

15 0 pounds per acre; under irrigation, 6 00 pounds. A yield of 1100 pounds has been

recorded.

Harvesting. The first crop of seed ripens from the last two weeks in June to the first

week in July, according to latitude. Succeeding harvest periods will depend on fertilization, rainfall or irrigation and the way in which the plants are handled.

A double-reel stripper is a good machine to harvest the ripe seeds and leave the developing panicles for a second run. The two runs are spaced about 1 0 days apart. The

seed material obtained consists of ripe grains and chaff.

The grain binder can be used satisfactorily when the seedhay is cured before threshing.

The stems should be cut fairly high and the bundles carefully shocked so that little

of the grain is lost. By doing this, the relatively green, soft grains will mature

through the normal process of curing. In hauling the cured bundles or loose material,

be sure to use a canvas to catch shattered grain.

The combine is used to harvest weeping lovegrass seeds, but sometime during the operation

some of the crop will be lost. If the grain is allowed to mature on the stalk before

starting operations, some of the early maturing spikelets will have shattered. If

combined too green, the very immature spikelets will not thresh out or break up.

On individual farms where the size of the seed block is small, perhaps less than half

acre, the farmer can easily cut and thresh the seeds by hand. The seedstems may be

cut with a mower or scythe, cured some and placed in small cocks while still damp to

keep shattering at a minimum. After curing for two weeks, the whole cock can be dumped

onto a canvas and flailed out by hand.

As with most grasseg^y a practicable method of increasing the acreage of this grass is

to cut the seedhay and move it while green to the new planting area where it can be

spread on the ground and lightly disked in.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds properly cured in the shock can be sacked when threshed.

Freshly combined seeds should be dried for several days to prevent heating.

948413 O—51 6
-46-

Cleaning and Processing. Weeping lovegrass seeds are easily cleaned in fanning mills.

The trash will be carried off the upper screen which should have holes of a size to

permit all the seeds to fall through. Many of the shriveled seeds can be removed with

a lower screen having holes too small for the well-developed grains to fall through.

Quality. Many samples of seed received at the laboratory have an average purity of

95 percent, a 7-day germination of 84 percent, final germination of 87 percent, and

about 1,50 0, 000 grains per pound of pure seed. After 5 or 6 months of dormancy most

of the seeds germinate in 7 days. This is true under field conditions. Known longevity

is 5 years.

PLAINS LOVEGRASS (Eragrostis intermedia)

Description, Adaptation and Use. An erect perennial bunchgrass with a large muchbranched open panicle of lead- colored or bronze- tipped spikelets. The tall form

resembles sand lovegrass, the shorter form, mourning lovegrass. Distribution is

region-wide but most important on the plateaus and plains of the western half. In

limestone soils the leaves often show considerable brown or red, whereas in the acid

sandy soils they are green. Useful for grazing in mixtures of native grasses.

Likely Seed Areas. Southern section and breaks and divides of Edwards Plateau in Texas

and northern part of Rio Grande Plain.

Potential Yield and Quality. Growth starts early in the spring. Flowers may be produced from May until fall. The main seed crop is in May and June following spring

rains. Field examinations show that many of the florets fail to mature plunp seed.

Fill and maturity are determined by averaging the number of florets (6) in the spike let,

picking several at random, and shelling them out in the palm of the hand. The seeds

are very small. Harvesting starts when shattering has begun at the tips of the branches

but before much loss.

Production Under Cultivation. Unknown, but probably will not exceed 25 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. No areas large enough to combine are known. Bluegrass and other strippers

are suitable machines to collect the seed and can be used where the sites are not too

rocky. Until now, all seed has been hands tripped or cut with sickles.

Quality. The few small lots of seed gathered have threshed out to uneven lots, many

containing a large percentage of shriveled grains. The typical grain is reddish-brown,

ovate or oblong and without a prominent sunken area on one side. They are very small

with about 3,5 00, 000 in a pound. There is a dormant period of 6 months or more after

harvest as the 7- day germination is only 23 percent. The final germination is 39

percent plus 31 percent hard or dormant seed. The longevity is probably 2 years under

cool storage.

LEHMANN LOVEGRASS (EragTostis lehnannianaj

Description, Adaptation and Use. Lehmann lovegrass is a perennial bunchgrass producing runner-like stems that root at the nodes to form an open turf. The number of

stolons produced will depend to a large degree on how the grass is treated. If, in a

dense stand, the plants are allowed to mature full top growth, the stolons will be

few; if grazed and trampled, more of the stems become stolons. The stems are slender

and seldom reach 2 feet in height. The panicle is open and upright.

This lovegrass was introduced into the United States from Africa a number of years ago.

Numerous trials have been made in several of the southwestern states under irrigated

and dry-range conditions. It seems to be well adapted for pasture in low rainfall

areas, in either sandy or heavy soils. It possesses considerable drought resistance
Virginia wildrye, Elymus

t/irginicus. Upper part

of stem and spilte;

spll<elet (5),floret (F)

or seedunit, and two

views of groin.

Boer lovegrass, Eragrostis chloromelas. A

large panicle, spikelet, and three views

of grain ( seed).

Weeping lovegrass, Eragrostis

currula. Panicle, spikelet, and

three views of grain (seed).

Plains lovegrass, Eragrostis Intermedia. Part of

panicle,floret, and three views of grain (seed).

PLATE 7
-47-

and withstands tranpling and rather close grazing. It is recommended for planting

only in southwestern Texas south of latitude 32** (Midland). North of this line it

usually winterkills.

Likely Seed Areas. No seed sources of any size have been established. However, several

soil conservation district cooperators in the Rio Grande Plain and El Paso County have

acreages which are being used for seed increase.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Potential yield is difficult to determine with

this grass because of its manner of growth. Anyone having experience in checking quality

as indicated by the fill of the spikelets and keeping in mind the extremely small size

of the seed (grain) can broadly estimate yield. The mature seeds of Lehmann lovegrass

are hardly 1/32 inch in length, while those of weeping lovegrass are nearly twice as

long. Both have about the same general characteristics of shape and color, the same

time of flowering and maturity of the plants. Since the species is grown in low rainfall areas, seed maturity is often hastened by drought. Careful examination of the

spikelets should be made to make certain there are not an excessive number of shriveled

and immature grains present. This can be done by shelling out the tiny grains in the

palm of the hand. Undeveloped grains are whitish or light tan in color; the mature

grains are amber with a dark scar opposite the embryo.

Production Under Cultivation. An acre of Lehmann lovegrass was broadcast on the San

Antonio nursery in the spring of 1937. Sixty pounds of clean seed of rather low quality

were obtained in 1937. The average for 3 years was about 25 pounds.

Under irrigation, yields of seed have been reported as high as 500 pounds per acre.

Monthly clippings of forage from row plantings under irrigation yielded as high as

4 tons per acre. The plants maintained good vigor after these cliptpings.

Harvesting. The first seed crop matures in late June or early July. The maturity dates

of succeeding crops depend upon the fertilization, rainfall and irrigation.

Cutting, binding, shocking, and curing the seedhay in the field and later hauling the

seed to the combine has proved a satisfactory method of harvesting. In case the stems

are short, the crop can be combined without much loss. Near Fabens, Texas the seedhay

is mowed, dried in piles, stacked, and threshed with a combine. The combine adjustments are: (1) Set cylinder close to concaves and run at high speed, (2) close vanes to

chaffer, (3) use a one-notch setting of air to slightly lift stems from chaffer, and

(4) use a 7/64-inch shoe screen to allow only fine trash to filter through with the

grain. Be certain all doors and fittings are tight to prevent loss of fine seeds.

The seeds are easily harvested with strippers. The two-reel, rubber-faced stripper

works well on weeping lovegrass and should give equally good results with Lehmann

lovegrass.

Small blocks can be hand harvested, flailed and recleaned with a fanning mill.

Care of Green Seeds. Seeds harvested fresh should be dried before sacking. Seeds well

cured in the shock can be sacked at the thresher.

Cleaning. By using a fine-hole upper screen in the fanning mill to allow the naked and

partly naked grains to fall through and at the same time to permit the trash to slide

over, reasonably clean seed can be obtained. A similar screen below will further

assist in removing light trash. Some rubbing of the screen with rubber-faced blocks

may be helpful and necessary if the traveling brush does not keep the upper screen

open. It is most difficult to separate immature or shriveled grains from the whole

grains with a fanning mill. No processing is necessary.

Quality. The average purity of laboratory samples is 84, the 7-day germination 12

percent and the final germination 52 i~ percent. The number of grains in a pound of
48-

pure seed varies from 4,200,000 to 5,500,000. Most lots of new seed are almost completely dormant. Occasional lots of year-old seeds are still dormant. So far no method

has been found that will break this dormancy. The known longevity is 4 years. The

seeds are the smallest of all the grasses cultivated in the Region.

WILMAN LOVEGRASS (Eragrostis superba)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A leafy, tufted perennial introduced recently from

South Africa; stems upright, smooth round, moderately fine, few to many from a tuft;

basal and stem leaves rather long, the latter not reduced above; sheaths somewhat

connpressed with a dense tuft of hair near the collar; blades flat or slightly folded

near base, gradually tapering to a slender point; inflorescence terminal occupying a

third to half the total height of the plant, the lower branches spreading to upright

2 to 3 inches long, the upper ones reduced, all forming a fairly dense sometimes spikelike panicle; spikelets showy, heart shaped, very flat, as much as a centimeter broad

and long; florets 12 to 15, spreading in the mature spikelets, acute, the palea with

a distinct basal bow that projects out beyond the base of the leirnia; seeds oblongelliptical or ovate-oblong rounded at the top, the ovary wall thin and cellular and

easily broken, rupturing when the spikelets are run through a hammer mill. The growing

period at San Antonio extends throughout the year except for a short period in the

winter. Field trials have been started only recently, so adaptations have not been

worked out. Probably adapted to a range of soils from the sands to the clays. Doubt

fully hardy north of the southern third of the Region. It has the appearance of a

good hay grass .

Potential Yields and Quality. The individual plants grow off fast after seedlings are

established, but not as rapidly as weeping lovegrass. Flowering stems often form the

first year and flowering seems to be continuous from early spring to freezing weather.

Ripe spikelets and flowering spikelets may be found in the same panicle most any time.

Dead ripe spikelets do not break up easily; the seeds remain in the spikelets after

the latter drop to the ground. Increased yields of both forage and seeds can be obtained

with irrigation.

Likely Seed Areas. None. Still under trial.

Harvesting. Small lots can be stripped by hand. The bluegrass or two-reel stripper

will work well in large stands, and the spikelets can be combined. Partially developed

and immature spikelets will make up a fair percentage of the total number harvested

with machinery. It may be possible to shell the grains from the bracts in the combine

when the spikelets are dry.

Care of Green Seed. Seed harvested from standing material with a stripper or combine

will always contain green, undeveloped spikelets. Such seed should be dried before

sacking is attempted.

Cleaning. The spikelet, containing perhaps as many as 10 ripe grains, should be broken

up for economical planting. The palea and lemma must be torn apart to release the

grain. This is accomplished by hammermilling. Some grains will be broken in the process. Reclean in a fanning mill. Hammermilled seed is plantable from grass drills

without further cleaning, but the smooth grains may sift to the bottom of the hopper

and set up an uneven rate of planting.

Quality. Wilman lovegrass seeds (grains) are usually brown or dark brown in color and

less than twice the size of grains of weeping lovegrass. Figures are not available,

but it is estimated that a pound of pure grain contains about 1,000,000 seeds.
-49-

SAND LOVEGRASS (Eragrostis trichodes}

Adaptation and Use. Sand lovegrass is a perennial bunchgrass, native to the plains

and open woods of central United States as far south as south-central Texas. It grows

in sandy soils and is most common in the savannah type of vegetation,, that is, where

grasses and shrubs (sand sagebrush or shinnery oak) or grasses and trees (post oak and

blackjack oak) compete in what is normally a prairie climate. It seldom grows in pure

stands. When mixed with the woody vegetation and over extensive areas, it has been

reduced or even eradicated by continuous grazing.

It is considered one of the most palatable of native grasses in sandy soils, and valuable because of its early spring growth. Where allowed to form seed, it is a good

volunteer and has a place in regrassing sandy or loamy soils of the Cross Timbers,

sand sagebrush and shinnery areas and some of the loamy soils of the plains. Its use

may extend to the Rio Grande Plain but not into southwestern Texas.

Likely Seed Areas. Extensive seed collections of sand lovegrass are not possible from

native stands with machinery unless the areas are cleared of stunps and brush. Such

areas are found in recent clearings of oak timber where brush has been removed. Pastures cleared of stunps and brush and held for winter grazing are likely seed areas.

All seeds now available are obtained from planted stands.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Yields from native stands are difficult to

determine. Usually the tufts of grass occur scattered in ungrazed open places, but

seldom more than one or two to a 100 square feet. Well developed individual plants

under such conditions may possess many seedstems. Poundage of seed from these local

areas can be estimated only by sampling a number of scattered plants, threshing out a

given number of spike lets from each plant in the palm of the hand and then counting

the grains. When 40 we 11-developed grains are rubbed out of 10 spikelets, the fill is

excellent. It is not unusual to find most of the florets filled, but with some of the

grains poorly developed. If only one-fourth of the florets produce sound grains, the

material may be considered too poor for extensive harvesting but good enough for a

small local cutting. When mature, the grains are usually dark purple in color.

Production Under Cultivation. Sand lovegrass can be expected to produce good seed

yields nearly every year when planted in 36-to 42-inch rows and cultivated. Under

dry-land conditions, the yield is 60 to 200 pounds per acre. Under irrigation, it may

reach 600 pounds per acre, although 400 to 500 pounds might be more nearly the average.

Only one crop is produced in September or early October. Total pro<iuction is nearly

equal to the demand.

Harvesting. The shattering of ripe seeds at maturity limits the harvest period to

about 10 days after the first grains turn purple. The seeds may be harvested with the

combine, stripper, binder, or by hand. Combining when most of the grain is in the

hard-dough stage is a satisfactory method of harvesting. Necessary adjustments of the

combine are: (1) Remove fan blades or disconnect fan drive, (2) remove perforated

sieve in cleaning shoe, (3) set cylinder as close as possible to concaves, (4) run

cylinder at highest speed, (5) set vanes of chaffers so as to allow all possible trash

to ride out of machine without losing seed, and (6) be certain all doors and fittings

are tight to prevent loss of the fine seeds.

As with other lovegrasses, the double-reel stripper will do a good job of harvesting

the seeds. Binding, curing and threshing is also a satisfactory method of harvesting.

Care of Green Seed. Freshly harvested seeds contain a good deal of moisture and must

be spread out and dried before bagging in order to prevent heating»

Cleaning and processing. Seeds from the combine or thresher are readily cleaned with

a fanning mill. The upper screen should have openings large enough (1/22) to allow
-50-

the grains to fall through quickly, while the bottom screen should have openings of

such size (36 x 36) as to allow only the small, shriveled or undeveloped grains to

fall through. The florets and spikelets that are mixed with the uncleaned seed from

the combine will, under such screening, move out in the trash. Small lots of seed

can be flailed out by hand on a canvas and the spikelets and florets rubbed through a

screen with small openings to obtain pure seed. Seeds threshed with a combine and

recleaned in a fanning mill do not need any processing to improve the handling qualities.

Quality. First quality seeds have a purity of 92 to 95 percent. Samples received at

the laboratory averaged 92 percent. They had a 7-day germination of 76 percent, a final

germination of 80 percent and 1,800,000 grains in a pound. The grains vary considerably

in size. Dormancy is erratic. A laboratory test should be obtained before time to

plant. Some lots remain in the soil a year before germination occurs. In storage the

seed retain good viability for 3 years.

SUITER FESCUE (festuca elatior arundivacea)

Adaptation and Use. A strain of tall fescue that has been growing on the Suiter farm

in Menifee County, Kentucky for over 50 years. The Kentucky Experiment Station began

testing it at Lexington in 1932. Since then demonstration plantings have been made

in many states. A cool-season bunchgrass, with stiff stems, long and rough-margined

leaves and a usually open panicle of several-floret spikelets. Regional trials indicate the grass is adapted as far west as central Oklahoma and central Texas under

dry-land conditions on fairly fertile and fertile, water-holding soils and throughout

the western parts under irrigation. It may be grown alone for supplemental pasture and

in mixtures with adapted legumes for grazing and soil improvement. Has proved useful

when planted thick on fairways of golf courses. Known as Ky-31 fescue in the trade

and cannot be distinguished botanically from alta fescue.

Likely Seed Areas. None.

Potential Yield and Managing for Seed. For seed production, plant in the fall in 3-foot

rows and cultivate. Apply a complete fertilizer at seeding time. Add lime to acid

soils. Apply about 30 pounds of nitrogen in early spring. Annual applications of

nitrogen and less frequent additions of phosphorus are required in all soils, also

some potash where there is a deficiency. Do not graze the grass the first year and

only moderately until about March 1 of the second year. A high mowing to cut back

weeds and level the growth is a good practice after grazing. After seed is harvested,

mow to obtain an even growth for the fall and winter grazing period.

Seedsterns begin to appear the second week in April in the southern part of the Region,

somewhat later farther north. The plants are in full bloom about May 10 to 20 and

mature in June. Shattering may begin from early spikelets while many others are still

green and tough. The seeds are ready to harvest if some florets drop into the hand

when the spikelets are pulled through the thuirb and fingers. At this stage most of the

seeds will be in the hard-dough stage and the grains will be dark or purplish in color.

Yields Under Cultivation. For seed production row plantings have certain advantages

over broadcast stands. The yields are usually higher, cleaner seed is produced, the

stand is easier to maintain and fertilize, and crops can be produced under less favorable conditions. The yields vary from 50 to 1200 pounds per acre. The average is

around 250 to 300 pounds. Experimental yields of alta fescue seed at the Oregon E3q>eriment Station, Corvallis over a 5-year period averaged 376 from 2-foot rows, 452 pounds

from 3-foot rows, 476 pounds from 4-foot rows, and 374 pounds from broadcast stands.

First year yields seldom equal those of succeeding years.

Harvesting. Cutting and binding seems to give the highest yields, as it permits cutting

before; shattering is under way and allows ripening and curing in the bundle. Binding

begins when the seeds are beginning to turn dark or are still somewhat jrellow. Shock
XIO

XI/2 XIOQ

Lehmonn lovegrass, Eragrostis Ithmonniana. Panicle,

spikelet,and three views of grain (seed).

XI/2

M

Wilman lovegrass, Eragrostis saptrba

Panicle and mony-flowered spikelet;

open floret, ttiree views of wing >d paleo (/»), and three views of groin (seed).

Sand lovegrass, Eragrostis tricliodts. Part

of panicle, floret, and three views of groin

(seed).

Suiter fescue, Ftstuca elatior arundinacea.

Panicle and spikelet; two views of floret

(seedunit) and enlarged base (F) of floret;

three views of groin.

PLATE 8
-51-

the bundles while danp, in long shocks without caps to permit aeratio>n. The cured bundles will lose seeds when handled. Take precautions and use tight beds or canvas covers

to save the shattered florets. If binding continues during the period of rapid shattering the following alterations can be made on the binder to catch shattered seed:

Fashion a metal pan below space between lower canvas and upper canvas so that seed will

run into a box sled attached to rear of binder. Use a cover of sheet metal to catch

seed sliding off the tying and packing platform. The bundles are set off the carrier

which is covered with a metal pan and the shattered seed swept out of the pan. Such

alterations will not be necessary on small acreages.

Suiter fescue combines well. A slight loss of seed is to be expected because the start

is usually delayed several days over binding. Due allowance must be made for quick combining, if dry weather prevails and the crop becomes increasingly dry. The adjustments

to the combine are: Set sickle high, set reel to bend the tops over the draper before

the sickle hits the stems, run cylinder at medium speed, set cylinder spacing at 1/4 to

3/8 inch, leave chaffer and shoe sieve two-thirds closed, set both these sieves to

slope gently to rear of machine, and open air vents slightly. When conditions are dry

and ripening advanced, cylinder speed should be reduced to suit the easy separation

of the florets.

The crop can be cut and windrowed and combined from windrow. Any extra turning in wet

weather will entail loss from shattering. Pickup tines should be used on the combine.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds from the combine are naturally moist and should not be

sacked. If artificial driers are not available, spread the seeds in an artifically or

well-ventilated room on a tight wooden floor and stir to prevent heating or sweating.

Filling porous sacks a third full, placing them on ventilated screens and turning

occasionally is an easy way to dry and cure where there is forced ventilation.

Cleaning. Seeds harvested from weed-free stands need little cleaning other than to

remove trash. When mixed with weed seeds, the 3-screen cleaner is a good machine to use

for proper separation. Seeds of Italian and perennial ryegrass are so similar in shape

and weight to alta and Suiter fescue that it is impossible to clean them out of the

fescue seed.

Quality. To maintain absolute purity of Suiter fescue seed, foundation and increase

blocks must be strictly supervised and widely separated from plantings of alta and

meadow fescue. Large lots of seed being brought into the Region are mixed with the

ryegrasses. Growers desiring pure seed should buy only fully certified seed having

the backing of an organization committed to the placement of high-quality pure seed.

Local growers planting on weedy ground are learning that the weedy bromes, like chess

brome (cheat) thrive in Suiter fescue; and since the fruiting periods are similar,

the seeds cannot be separated in threshing or cleaning. When such conditions prevail,

and the grower wishes to produce seed for sale, it would be best for everybody concerned

to dispose of the old block, clean up a new seed block, plant pure seied and rogue the

undesirable grasses that cannot be separated in threshing or cleaning. Keeping Suiter

fescue seed reasonably pure is going to be a hard task because of the number of grasses

that have seed of about the same size, shape and weight.

Purity and germination data are slowly accumulating for Suiter fescue seed. The averages do not vary a great deal from those of alta fescue. The standards for the latter

are: Purity 97 percent, germination 90 percent, longevity 2 years and number of seeds

per pound 277,000. The purities of Suiter fescue received in the Region have varied

from 81 to 99 percent. The low purity samples nearly always contain some undesirable,

even though not noxious weeds, as mayweed camomile and Japanese brome. The germinations

are seldom below 85 percent or more. The 7-day germinations are usually 8 0 percent or

higher. The number of seeds in a pound of pure seed varies from 217,000 to 342,000 a

pound. Well-cured seeds usually can be stored for 2 years without much loss in viability.
-52-

THATCHGRASS (ïïyparrhenia hirta)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A tall, smooth, leafy bunchgrass, our strain introduced from South Africa; tufts leafy, becoming large in age; stems upright with bluish

cast, rather slender and leafy; leaves with bluish cast, narrow and drooping; inflorescence a much-branched panicle, usually occupying the upper third of the plant; spikelets

small, hairy and borne through late spring, summer and fall in paired racemes (these

on slender stalks) that usually diverge from each other at maturity; grains small.

Established plants have a deep root system. Since the plants bloom more or less continuously during the hot weather it has been difficult to obtain seeds in quantity.

Trials indicate that thatchgrass is well adapted to a variety of soils in the southern

third of the Region in the medium-low rainfall belt. It is one of 3 grasses that made

excellent growth from seeds on the dry sand dunes of Kenedy County, Texas. The growth

is quick and production high under irrigation. It is most useful for hay, but suitable

for grazing. The few trials on record indicate that it is palatable to livestock when

grazed reasonably close.

Likely Seed Areas. None. Seed blocks are being established under cultivation and

from sod and seeds.

Determining Fill and Managing for Seed. Seeded in the spring the plants often make

enough growth by June to produce several seedstems. Second-year growth may have as many

as 15 stems per tuft; 5-year-old plants as many as 50 to 75 per tuft. Flowering begins

in May and continues until late fall. Seedfill is erratic.

Generally, the June crop is best and the late September crop next best. Hardly any

filled spikelets are found during the summer months. Mowing has aided seedfill; fertilization only slightly. It has been considered likely that a fertilization and an

irrigation aj^lied as the stems develop in May and again in early September may assist

pollination and fertilization and increase fill, because moisture will be readily available during the flowering period. The potential seed yield is high because of the large

number of spikelets produced, but the actual is insignificant. When a method of producing seeds in quantity is found, this grass may find a wider use in the southwestern

part of the Region.

Determining fill is a difficult task. The individual spikelets are very small and

fuzzy. Pinching each spike let with the thumb and forefinger is probably the easiest

way to find the grains. Placing the spikelets on a board and cutting across each one

with a sharp knife is another way to learn fill. Each grain will give a "click" sound

as the blade passes through it.

Harvesting. The stems have been topped with a combine, but the seed material obtained

is trashy due to the difficulty of separating the light hairy spikelets from pieces

of leaves and stem. No air can be used and because of that the separation on the sieves

is difficult.

The cylinder is run at medium speed to separate the joints of the racemes. Since the

tops contain many braeteal leaves these are broken up and mixed with the hairy spikelets. A method of handling this trashy material in the combine is described under

King Ranch bluestem.

The stems can be cut and bound, cured and threshed in a separator. The threshing should

be done during a damp period so as to keep down the fluffiness of the spikelets and

improve the separation. The material is fed rather slowly through the machine.

The seedstems can be mowed and scattered on the planting areas. When the operator is

doubtful whether the spikelets contain grains this method will use any seed that may

be present in the material.
-53-

Production Under Cultivation. Nursery yields have never exceeded 100 pounds an acre.

The yields from full grown plants with well-developed inflorescences could yield more

than 300 pounds an acre.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed should be dried 24 hours before sacking. The material

will cure if placed loosely in sacks and set out in the wind.

Cleaning and Processing. Scalping the seeds on a single-screen shaker and rubbing the

spikelets through the screen will remove much of the trash. Further cleaning is a

doubtful practice unless the seed material is hammermilled first. Fiammermilling will

produce a uniform planting material, and remove many of the awns and soft hairs. Such

material can be planted with grass-seed planters.

Quality. The seedunit of thatchgrass consists of a joint of the raceme, the filled

fertile spikelet and stalk of the sterile spikelet, all firmier united. The purity

obtained for the past 10 years on the San Antonio nursery has varied considerably.

The average is 23 percent. The 7-day germination is 43 percent, and the final germination 47 percent. The dormant period is short as shown by the 7-day germination. A

pound of pure seed contains 614, 000 units.

ITALIAN RYEGRASS (Loliun nultiflorun)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Italian ryegrass is a short-lived, perennial bunchgrass widely cultivated and handled as a winter annual in the South. It can be distinguished in fruit from perennial ryegrass by the awned lemmas and greater number of

florets in a spikelet. It differs from the wheatgrasses in the arrangement of the

spikelets which are placed edgewise to the rachis. The leaves of ryegrass are smoothmargined. A large number of cultural varieties have been described. The trade name

for Italian ryegrass is domestic ryegrass or common ryegrass. It usually contains a

mixture of about 90 percent Italian and 10 percent perennial ryegrass. Italian ryegrass

is an inportant hay plant in Europe, where under heavy fertilization it produces enormous tonnages. Considerable seed is grown in the Pacific coast states. In the southern

states it is used as a winter lawn grass, winter cover crop, or more often for winter

forage. It will withstand lower temperatures than rescuegrass. It prefers the rich

loams but will grow well in the sands if properly manured and fertilized. It does not

survive standing water, and on well drained land responds to irrigation. It is used

to overseed permanent pastures in the more humid sections, but miist be capably managed

to reseed, as rescuegrass does, under close grazing. Heavy rains in April, May and June

will keep the plants green, delay maturity and definitely retard the growth of the

permanent or base grasses. On rich soils, it is very aggressive and is apt to crowd

out winter clovers unless grazed heavily or mowed.

Likely Seed Areas. None. The grass has never become naturalized. Seeds are produced

only under cultivation. Most of the seeds used in this Region are grown in Oregon

and Washington.

Production Under Cultivation. Italian ryegrass is a high-yielding hay grass where it

is well adapted. Seed yields are reported to reach 800 pounds per acre. Some seeds

are produced locally in Arkansas and other states.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Potential yield depends upon the stand and

number of seeds terns produced as well as the fill. Flowering begins near the end of the

spring in late April or early May. Inspection of the florets by pinching or cutting

about 10 days after flowering is well along will furnish evidence of developiTient. Like

rescuegrass, the bracts of the floret adhere closely to the grain at maturity and remain

as part of the seedunit.
-54-

Harvestiíig. Two methods are recommended for harvesting ryegrass seed: (1) Bind and

thresh the bundles, and (2) coirbine from the windrow. Direct combining of stenmy material

is not satisfactory because of shattering. It can be used on short straw, but some seed

will be lost.

Binding should start shortly after some of the florets take on a reddish brown color

and when a few shatter while the heads are being pulled through the hand. Shock the

bundles while damp and use a canvas on the wagon when moving the bundles to the machine.

Protection on the binder to save shattered seed is advisable where acreages warrant

the cost. The bundle carrier should be replaced or covered by a metal pan.

Windrowing should start at the time binding begins, the crop lifted from the windrow

with pickup tines as soon as it is dry enough.

While threshing the cylinder speed is kept fairly low, the cylinder-concave spacing

wide and enough air directed the full length of the chaffers to keep the straw and

chaff floating.

Care of Green Seed. The freshly harvested seed should be well cured before sacking.

Cleaning and Processing. If the awns are not removed from the florets in threshing,

they can be removed with a hammer mill without much damage to the grain. For ordinary

plantings in a grain drill, grass seed drill, cotton planter, or whirlwind seeder the

awns will not interfere too much. For local planting, then, it is not considered

necessary to process the seed.

Quality. Commercial seed of Italian ryegrass is fairly free of awns. The seedunit is

the smooth floret. The purity is high. Laboratory samples average 94 percent purity,

have a 7-day germination of 87 percent and a final germination of 92 percent. The

average pound of pure seed contains 223,000 filled florets. Like rescuegrass seeds,

the viability is reduced by the end of the second year, although a longevity of 4 years

is recorded.

General. Perennial ryegrass seeds are very similar to deawned seeds of Italian ryegrass. Fresh seeds of each can be identified by the presence or absence of the awns.

A mixture of the two species is unavoidable but all right for use in the Region.

PERENNIAL RYEGRASS (LoliuM perenne)

Adaptation and Use. A weak perennial similar to Italian ryegrass. The slightly

flattened stems are reddish at the base, the leaves folded in the bud; and the florets

are awnless. Italian ryegrass has round stems that are yellowish-green at the base,

leaves rolled in the bud and awned florets. Perennial ryegrass succeeds best in a

cool moist climate having mild winters. It has been successfully grown in Arkansas

and Louisiana, in the higher rainfall parts of Oklahoma and Texas and in irrigated

pasture mixtures in the western part of the Region, but has never supplanted Italian

ryegrass for lawns or winter pasture overseeding. It is mixed with most Italian

ryegrass.

Likely Seed Areas. None.

Potential Yield and Quality. Same as Italian ryegrass.

Production Under Cultivation. Same as Italian ryegrass.

Harvesting. Same as Italian ryegrass.

Cleaning. Same as Italian ryegrass.
Thotchgross, Hyparrhenia hirta. Ponicle;

two yiews of joint of o raceme consisting of a tiairy joint (>/), a fertile sessile

spikelet [/-) and a stalked sterile spikelet; enlarged callus (c); three views of

grain.

XI/2

Perennial ryegross, Lolium ptr.

enne. A single spike; two views

of floret (seedunit), and enlorged base {,F) of floret.

er \

\XI/2

\^

c::s

X5

i^

Italian ryegrass, Lolium multiflorum. A spike

and spikelet; two views of floret (seedunit),

and enlarged base {F) of floret; three views

of grain.

Blue panicum, Ponicum antidótale. Ponicle; two views of

spikelet (5), and two views of floret (seedunit).

PLATE 9
-55-

Quality. The seedunit is the smooth filled floret. There are 227,000 in a pound of

pure seed. Laboratory purities and germinations approximate those of Italian ryegrass.

BLUB PANlcuii (Panicun antidotale )

Description, Adaptation and Use. Blue panicum, sometimes called giant panic, is a

deep-rooted perennial grass. The tough crowns are composed of short, thick rhizomes

that often end in a bulbous swelling. The plant may reach a height of 8 feet under the

best growing conditions. The lower half of the stems have large nodes and bony internodes, giving a bainboo-like appearance. Branching from the lower nodes is common if

the main stem is cut off. In the mild climate of southern Texass, the stems do not

always die back to the crown each year. The panicles (inflorescences) are terminal on

the stems and branches.

The grass has been under trial and cultivation, as an introduced plant from Australia,

for many years. Bridges, from trials in New Mexico, published in Experiment Station

Bulletin 278, suggested the grass may have a place **along arroyos, in contourcid areas,

and in other places which receive runoff water". It has been recommended in an irrigated grass-legume mixture for Las Cruces and localities exhibiting similar climatic

and soil conditions. In Texas it has done well in the lower Rio Grande Valley under

irrigation, in other parts of the Rio Grande Plain and in the Rolling Red Plains.

The early vigor of blue panicum makes it an excellent winter grass in the Lower Rio

Grande Valley, where it has become a factor in the winter-grazing of cattle. It soon

loses its vigor in soils where soil nitrogen is used up rapidly by the plants. Plantings

in heavy soil on the San Antonio nursery irrigated with sewage water prociuced remarkable

yields of forage and seed. There was no deterioration in color and growth under such

conditions. On similar soils without irrigation or fertilization, the stems lost their

vigor and the leaves gradually became yellowish-green, indicating an unbalanced nutrition. The leaves and stems are very high in nitrogen during periods of rapid growth.

Proper feeding with nitrogenous fertilizers seems essential to keep the grass vigorous.

In Hall County, Upper Pease and Salt Fork Soil Conservation Districts of the Rolling

Red Plains, blue panicum has been tried under different conditions. According to

District Conservationist George W. Taylor: (1) It apparently does best on a soil high

in lime, (2) does well on gypsum and caliche where sorghums **gyp out", (3) is adapted

to sands, but the volume of growth is greatest on the fertile tyi>es, (4) is easy to

establish and maintain on gravelly slopes, (5) yields most on the medium- and coarsetextured permeable soils, (6) is very susceptible to damage by weeds and grasshoppers

in the seedling stnge, (7) spraying with 2, 4-D during the late seedling stage of the

grass is fairly effective in controlling weeds, and (8) broadcast seedings get weedy

and lose vigor.

Plants of this grass have withstood tenç>erature of -18*^ F. at Woodward, Oklahoma.

Likely See'd Areas. From seed distributed to soil conservation districts by the Soil

Conservation Service, several growers are now supplying seed to district cooperators

and comnercial markets. All seed is produced under cultivation.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Blue panicum is much like switchgrass in

appearance and growth habits, but starts earlier in the spring. The first seed crop

matures before hot weather arrives, usually about June 20. In the Hall County, UJpper

Pease and Salt Fork Soil Conservation Districts, the grass is often grazed in the

spring of the second year up to 10 days before seed harvest which tends to lower the

yield of seed. By examining the panicles 10 days after flowering is well advanced and

following the procedure as outlined under switchgrass, the yield and stages of maturity

can be determined. Under good-growth conditions, new panicles are produced through

948413 O—51 7
-56-

the summer and fall. These should be disregarded and attention centered on the production from the larger primary panicles. Under grazing where an unusual number of

secondary panicles are produced, it may be profitable to wait for these to mature and

disregard the primary panicles. Whatever type of panicle is harvested, examinations

should be made often enough to determine the period of greatest production. Harvesting

during this period always means some early shattering and some immature seeds.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields were as high as 600 pounds per acre from

2 and 3 combinings with sewage irrigation at the San Antonio nursery. Under dry-land

conditions, 15 0 to 250 pounds per acre is a good yield. When the grass is grazed under

dry-land conditions, the seed yields from one cutting in early summer are seldom 50

pounds per acre.

Harvesting. The combine can be used to harvest the seeds in all but very tall plants.

A header would be better with growthy plants. The seeds separate readily from the

straw either as florets or spikelets. The chaffer is kept nearly closed. A slight

amount of air from the fan can be used. High quality seeds can be obtained by cutting

and binding. There is always some loss of good seeds while handling the bundles.

The platform canvas can be removed from the binder, the stems cut high, and when the

platform is full, the cut material hauled to a drying shed or cured in loose bunches

in the open. The best seeds usually shatter out on the binder platform.

Grass strippers work well with blue panicum. The mutilated stems should be cut after

any stripping to keep the growth even for the next harvest.

Care of Green Seed. Thoroughly dry the fresh seeds by spreading thinly on drying

sheets or platforms.

Cleaning. Seed material from a combine or stripper contains some straw and trash. It

can be cleaned enough to plant by running it over a scalper, through a fahñkng mill,

or back through the combine. The resulting mixture will be mainly florets with a small

percentage of spikelets. The ratios of these two units will depend on the number of

green spikelets obtained in the harvest. Processing the seeds is not necessary for

ordinary planting.

Quality. The seedunit of blue panicum is the fertile floret. This is usually a mottled

gray or dark gray. Straw-colored florets are either empty or immature. Many samples

received at the seed laboratory had an average purity of 79 percent, a 7-day germination

of 41 percent and a final germination of 55 percent. There are 679,000 filled florets

in a pound. The purity of one lot obtained with a combine and fanning mill was 94

percent. This lot had a normal planting rate of about one pound per acre in 3-foot

rows. Dormancy should be considered when figuring the planting rate of fresh seeds.

The known longevity of seeds stored in southern Texas is 3 years.

VINE-MESQUITE (Panicum obtusum)

Adaptation and Use. Vine-mesquite is a leafy perennial grass that forms a small crown

of knotty, hairy rootstocks. The stolons with swollen or knotty nodes often grow to

8 to 10 feet in length. If enough stolons form, a fairly dense turf may develop.

This grass occurs through Oklahoma and Texas west of the eastern timber belt, westward

to Arizona and northward to southern Kansas and southern Colorado. It is best adapted

to heavy soils of flats (particularly overflow areas), outlets and inlets to dirt

tanks, ponds, lakes and streams. It is very often found in and along highway and

railway ditches and seems to become established early and spread fast when such places

are disturbed. It usually is found in small patches of not more than 3 or 4 square

rods in size. It does not survive where water stands for long periods, but will remain
-57-

al ive under water and mud for short periods. It grows in sandy soils. In the spring

the plants furnish considerable grazing. As they mature the stems become rather woody

and the leaves harsh. The grass is most useful for erosion control and pasture, but

in some sections is cut for hay. For Oklahoma and Texas west of longitude 98° it is

valuable for vegetating terrace waterways and dirt spillways, and can be used to

revegetate disturbed flats where extra water collects.

Likely Seed Areas. Seeds can be obtained from the patches of grass scattered throughout

the western half of Texas, including the northern part of the Rio Grande Plain, and in

western Oklahoma.

Determining Yield and Managing for Seed. The first crop of seeds ripen from June 20

to July 30, depending on latitude. A second crop may be produced in the same stand where

good moisture prevails. Under close grazing seedstems are not produced. The good spikelets often fall off the plant before the filled florets shatter out; the empty spikelets

may cling to the stems for many months giving the appearance of a good seed crop. Like

many panicums, the fertile floret is hard and bony. When filled it most often has a

dark-gray, streaked appearance; when empty the color is a pale gray or tan. Pinching

the hard lemma and palea of 100 spikelets is an easy way to determine fill in the field.

Usually a fill of 40 percent represents a good crop. If there are 20 good spikelets

on each seedstem and 5 stems per square foot , the yield of pure seeds per acre is about

30 pounds. This is considered a good crop. Material of less than 5 percent fill is

worthless for any kind of harvest. The harvesting period should be within 3 weeks

after full maturity of the spikelets to insure getting the best material.

Harvesting. Several methods of harvesting are practicable. Any machine that will

top the ßtems can be used. The stems can be handout with a sickle. Power or horsedrawn mowers can be used to cut the seedhay and the material raked and cured in the

cock and threshed with a small combine, or the seedhay can be spread directly on the

planting site if the planting is to be done locally. The spikelets are easily stripped

from the stems by hand and with mechanical strippers.

Care of Green Seed. Fresh seeds must be well cured before they are sacked.

Cleaning and Processing. It is not difficult to obtain fairly clean spikelets with the

combine. Further cleaning is not necessary for drill plantings. If pure florets are

wanted, the spikelets are run through a hammer mill at slow speeds and the empty bracts

separated from the smooth fertile florets with a fanning mill.

Quality. The quality of vine-mesquite seed is based principally on the purity. The

spikelet is the seedunit. Since the unfilled spikelets do not separate easily from the

filled or fertile ones in a combine or fanning mill, it is not easy to obtain seeds of

high purity. The samples analyzed at the laboratory had a purity of nearly 39 percent,

a 7-day germination of 15 percent and a final germination of 37 percent. In a pound

of pure seed there are approximately 143,000 spikelets. New seeds do no t germinate

as well as seeds several months old. According to information from the seed laboratory,

when the hard floret covering is separated from the grain, there is a definite increase

in germination. The known longevity in storage is 5 years.

SWITCHGRASS (Panicun Virgatun)

Adaptation and Use. Switchgrass, a perennial, deep-rooted, semibunchgrass, occurs

in much of the prairie region and makes up a small part of the total cover. In the

wetter parts of some prairies, it may be found in nearly pure stands. It occurs in

sandy soils throughout the Plains. Since it is ordinarily considered a tall grass,

it is best suited for hay either on alluvial soils or uplands, and for pasture mixtures
-58-

in semihumid sections. It has been used with partial success in meadow waterways.

Where properly grazed to maintain vigor, it remains in pastures. It is now conceded

that the upland form of medium height growing in western Oklahoma is the more desirable

one for pasture and meadow mixtures. The tall form is well adapted to the alluvial

soils. Strains of upland switchgrass, as Blackwell and Oklahoma No. 1, are more productive and disease-resistant than the wild forms. They are available as certified

seed.

Likely Seed Areas. There are no large tracts of pure switchgrass where seeds may be

collected. In many bottoms, several acres in extent may be found mixed with other

grasses. On the sandy uplands of Oklahoma, small patches are found in areas protected

from grazing.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Switchgrass has a rather definite ripening

period that begins about August 25 and ends by Septeihber 20. Flowering is irregular

in the same panicle. About 7 days after flowering has begun, an inspection of the

area to be harvested should be made, to note progress of seed development. Test 25 to

5 0 florets to find out how the seeds are maturing. At this stage, most of the grains

will be in the milk or soft-dough stage. A week later, make a careful examination.

Take several lots of 10 spikelets in the palm of the hand and rub to remove the fertile

floret, then squeeze each floret and count the number filled. Take samples from widely

scattered plants, as often one plant growing among several others may be sterile or

nearly so. If the collector is not sure of the fill after squeezing the florets, place

the lots on a sheet of black paper or blotter and cut across with a knife. Where the

plants are closely spaced and bear many stems and panicles and half the florets are

filled, the yield may reach 350 pounds per acre. Shattering is an element to consider

in switchgrass. Most collectors wait too long after flowering to examine for yield.

Wei 1-developed florets will shatter 10 days after maturity and sooner if the weather

is windy. Look for this shattered condition. The filled florets shell out easily in

the hand if ripe or nearly ripe. They are gray or streaked with purple, shiny and

smooth. The unfilled florets seldom shatter easily and are dull gray or dull white

in color.

Production Under Cultivation. One objection to placing switchgrass under cultivation

is that it is a one-crop-a-year grass. Yields , however, under optimum nursery conditions are excellent, justifying the cultivation and irrigation. Cornelius, writing

from Kansas, states that stands are easily obtained, much higher seed yields secured,

and usually higher purity is assured, where the crop is grown under cultivation. Cultivation also allows the growing and distribution of pure strains or varieties, in contrast with the many growth forms that appear under natural conditions. Yields under

cultivation have reached 500 pounds per acre.

Harves ting. The harvest season is from August 25 to September 25. The^usual period

is around September 10. In exceptional years, seeds may ripen after September 25.

The crop combines easily. Start the combine as shattering begins. Cut the straw high

and thresh to remove only the ripe florets and near-ripe spikelets. Close the chaffer

and use a screen with small openings. The crop can be cut with a grain binder, cured

in the shock, and threshed. Handle the bundles carefully and while they are damp.

Use a canvas to catch shattered seeds while hauling the bundles to the thresher. Small

lots of seed can be obtained by topping the plants with a sickle, sacking loosely, and

curing in the sacks. The seed can be flailed out of the straw.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed should not be sacked immediately, but dried in the

open or under air until sufficient moisture is lost to prevent heating.
Swifchgross, ^a/7/ffí//n virgatum. Plant; section of leof stiowing

ligule U); two views of spil<elet (5); tliree views of floret

(8eedunlt),ond three views of groin (6).

PLATE 10
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Cleaning and Processing. Switchgrass seedunits (florets) are smooth and rather easy to

separate from the trash in a fanning mill. Sometimes in improperly developed material

the florets do not shatter and the seed lot remains a mixture of florets and spikelets.

This does not interfere with planting, as both units pass through a drill. If only

smooth florets are desired, the material is run through a hammer mill at slow speed

(800 RBI) and the loose bracts removed with a fanning mill.

Quality. The seedunit is the filled smooth floret. The average purity of many samples

is 76 percent, the 7-day germination 48 percent and the final germination 60 percent.

The dormant period is variable. Some workers report marked dormancy in which maximum

germination cannot be obtained until 18 months after harvest without special seed treatment. The longevity is 3 years. There are 389, 000 filled florets in a pound of pure

seed.

DALLISGRASS (Paspalum dilatatum)

Description, Adaptation and Use. Dallisgrass is a dark-green, broadleaf, tufted perennial bearing deep, strong roots. The leaves are mostly basal; the stems slender; the

seed hairy and flattened.

It was introduced into the southern states about 1875, probably from South America, is

naturalized and becoming common in the southern and southeastern coastal states. Its

spread westward extends to near longitude 98**, or the 33-inch rainfall belt, and northward to east-central Oklahoma and central Arkansas. Farther west it is grown under

irrigation.

It is adapted to a variety of soils but grows best in the fertile, moist alkaline clays

and loams.

It provides excellent pas ture in Louisiana, eastern and southeastern Texas, southern

and eastern Arkansas, and southeastern Oklahoma. It mixes well with legumes and other

grasses. Once established in lawns, it usually replaces Bernnjdagrass.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Preliminary checking of this grass for seed

yields is not easy. Flowering in the racemes is not uniform. The flowering period

may be affected by disease. About 12 days after flowering is advanced examine the

field for disease and fill. If half the spikelets are diseased (bear a sticky substance),

a profitable seed harvest is extremely doubtful. Field examination of healthy spikelets

is tedious for pressure on the flat side is not an accurate measure of fill. Cutting

across the spikelets with a knife is the best method. Only spikelets with a greenishbrown color should be checked. Where fewer than 10 percent show a developing grain

the crop is in the doubtful class for harvest. Such material may be usable for seedhay,

planting on areas close by. A fill of 30 percent is good if all the grains are healthy.

A fill of 50 or 60 percent is excellent but not often found in this Region.

Production Under Cultivation. Yields of good seed under cultivation are rather uncommon,

but are reported as high as 300 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. There are two methods of harvesting Dallisgrass seeds: (1) Direct combining,

and (2) mowing, windrowing and coa¿>ining from windrow. For easiest combining it is a

good plan to graze the grass evenly but not too closely to about May 5. After that

allow a period of 10 or 20 days* growth before the seedstems elongate. The stems then

are uniform in height and have fewer leaves to interfere with combining.

In Louisiana where Dallisgrass is grown with a clover, such as Pers ian clover, the

clover is combined in June and the Dallisgrass seeds harvested from second grcprth later

in the sumner.
- 60-

Direct combining starts when some early-maturing spikelets have shattered and when most

spikelets are brown in color. The sickle is set high, the cylinder run at 1300 to

1400 RPM and with a 1/4-inch clearance. The chaffer is set one-half to two-thirds open,

the shoe sieve about half open, and the air is shut off. Combine only when the grass

is dry.

Mowing and windrowing starts a few days ahead of the combine to prevent extra shattering.

Threshing is done with a pick-up combine as soon as the seedhay is cured and dry.

For local plantings where mulch is needed, mow the grass, rake immediately, or while

damp and spread the seedhay on the new planting area. This method has resulted in some

excellent stands.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed should be spread immediately on a drying canvas,

rack or platform. The temperature of fresh seed in a mass rises very rapidly if it is

not stirred.

Cleaning and Processing. Cleaning seeds of low purity is a problem where all good

seeds are to be saved. Careful adjustment of the fanning mill is necessary to blow out

some of the empty spikelets. Some operators say it is impossible to do a thorough job

with a fanning mill. A gravity cleaner gives better results. The loose outer hairy

bracts can be hulled from the floret with a hammer mill but the cost is not justified

since no increased germination results.

Quality. Recleaned seeds of native Dallisgrass sold as spike let material usually have

a low purity, seldom above 40 percent. The average at the laboratory is 36 percent,

the 7-day germination 28 percent, the final germination 53 percent. There are 288,000

filled spikelets in a pound of pure seed. Dormancy is the rule and shows up in the

generally poor stands obtained under average field conditions. Treatment by chilling

plus soaking in potassium nitrate has increased the germination in the laboratory. It

is believed the delayed and erratic germinations in field plantings is the failure of

moisture to penetrate between the lemma and palea. These two bracts closely clasp

the grain and exclude moisture for indefinite periods.

New strains having higher purities, less disease and greater vegetative vigor are

being developed at the Louisiana Experiment Station. Louisiana B230 and 430 are being

planted in foundation seed blocks for possible release in 1950. These strains represent

the best seeding material found in the first cycle of the Station breeding program.

C. R. Oven of the Louisiana Station reports that up to now there is no definite criterion

for selection for resistance to ergot disease in the field.

RIBBED PASPALUM ( Pas pa lum ma la CO ph y llun)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A medium-large, olive-green or slightly purplish,

leafy bunchgrass, in age forming large clumps from short, scaly rhizomes. Panicles

with many racemes. The fertile lemma of the spikelet has 5 prominent ribs, whence the

coimion name. Introduced from South America but not yet naturalized. Useful for hay

and grazing. Adapted to well-drained neutral or acid, sandy loams but will grow in

slowly permeable alkaline clays, on the southern side of Louisiana and Texas.

Likely Seed Areas. None.

Managing for Seed. First year stands seldom produce seedstems. When planted in rows

and Cultivated, second-year growth stools and matures stems and seeds. First flowers

are produced in May and seeds are ripe by the middle of June at the San Antonio nursery.

Additional harvests 6 to 8 weeks apart are possible under irrigation. Ripening is

irregular and an examination should be made when many of the spikelets begin to lose

the purple and turn brown. Pinching or cutting the florets will show the number filled.

Although an apparently heavy seed producer, many of the spikelets do not fill.
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Production Under Cultivation. Average yields on the San Antonio nursery have been low -

approximately 50 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. Ribbed paspalum combines easily, as no shelling is required. The spike lets

are merely separated or stripped from the stalks. Adjustments are: Moderate speed

and 3/8-inch spacing of the cylinder, keep chaffer and shoe sieve three-fourths closed

and use enough air to keep spikelets out of tailings.

The seed can be taken with bluegrass and two-reel strippers after ripening is advanced.

Care of Green Seed. Combined and stripped seed should be dried before sacking.

Cleaning. Most of the trash from stripped seed can be removed with the shaker scalper.

Cleaning is completed with the fanning mill.

Quality. The seedunit of ribbed paspalum is the spikelet as it grows on the plant.

Both glumes are absent in this species. The only extra scale that could be removed

is the thin sterile lemma. The average purity of samples received at the laboratory

is 50 percent, the 7-day germination 34 percent and the final germination 39 percent.

These figures indicate a rather long dormant period for most of the seeds. There are

approximately 1,000,000 seedunits in a pound of pure seed. The longevity is" at least

2 years.

BAHIAGRASS (paspalum nota turn)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A perennial with short ascending steii^ and short,

stout, horizontal rhizomes, forming a fairly close, tough turf. Leaves broad, crowded

at the base; inflorescence a pair of racemes produced as a fork at the? end of the stem;

spikelets solitary, crowded, smooth and shining. A pasture grass introduced from the

tropics; now naturalized along the Gulf Coast. Rare in Louisiana and scattered in

Texas. The typical form is found in Bee, Refugio and Goliad counties and in a few

spots west of these counties. A narrowleaf variety (Paraguay), less rhizomatous than

the typical form, is fairly common in local areas from Bay City to Lufkin, Texas. It

is winterhardy at Minden, Louisiana, while the typical form kills back from cold.

Two other strains, Wilmington and Pensacola, are under trial in the Region. The latter

is not cold-resistant. All forms aiapted to both clayey and sandy soils. Moisture

limits the use westward in the drier pastures. The Paraguay strain is proving suitable

for airplane landing fields along part of the Gulf Coast.

Likely Seed Area, The Paraguay strain has been harvested by commercial collectors

in the vicinity of El Campo, Texas. Local areas of the typical form are common around

Blanconia, Texas.

Managing for Fill and Seed. Bahiagrass will make excellent growth on relatively poor

soils when given plenty of nitrogen. The stems are produced in early May. Flowering

and fruiting occurs in late May. Unless protected, the young stems will be eaten by

livestock. In pastures the plants spread from seeds and vegetative offshoots. The

ripe seeds are known to have been transferred by livestock. Fertilized row plantings

produce as many as 15 stems per foot. Each stem may bear as many as 50 seeds. Fill

is usually good and is determined by pinching the spikelets with the thumbnail or

cutting across each with a knife. Harvesting begins when most of the spikelets are

turning brown and before many shatter. A small percentage of the spikelets show ergot

damage in most years.

Yield Under Cultivation. Maximum yields when planted in rows seldom exceed 100 pounds

per acre. Broadcast stands probably yield 35 pounds an acre.

Harvesting. Bahiagrass is easily combined, as the inflorescence tops the leaves and

can be cut without mixing in much trash. Tbe cylinder speed is moderate and the spacing
-62-

close (1/4 inch or less) in order to strip the spikelets from the branches. The chaffer

and adjustable shoe sieve are set three-fourths closed. Some air is used to float the

pieces of stems off the sieve. A clean lot of seed is possible if the spikelets are

uniformly ripe.

The spikelets can be taken with a power stripper probably more cheaply than with a

combine. The material should be cured and threshed or cleaned when dry.

Care of Green Seed. Much of the combined seed is partly green and needs drying before

sacking.

Cleaning. Normally most combined seed material is plantable without cleaning. Trashy

material can be cleaned on a vibrating scalper or in a fanning mill.

Quality. The seedunit of Bahiagrass is the smooth, filled spikelet. The grain, besides

being tightly enclosed within the fertile lemma and palea, is partially wrapped with

the translucent outgrowth of the palea. The water seal is between the lemma and palea.

If this can be broken either through scarification or soaking in sulphuric acid, germination is good. The purities range from 70 to 80 percent. This low purity is partly

due to the difficulty of separating unfilled from filled spikelets. The 7-day germination is 54 percent and the final germination 60 to 70 percent. There are approximately

170,000 spikelets in a pound of pure seed. Stored seeds usually retain their viability

for 3 years. In most instances, the storage should not be longer than 2 years.

HARDINGGRASS ( P ha lar is tuberosa stenoptera)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A stout, upright, deep-green perennial with a rhizomatous, only slightly swollen base; stems stout, ending in a spikelike dense panicle;

spikelets slightly winged, the fertile lemma hairy, and the single sterile le|mia about

one-third as long as the fertile one. A leafy, deep-rooted winter grass producing

the most forage on fertile, well-watered soils of the southwestern part of the Region.

Probably will not survive long under dry-land conditions in less than 30 inches of

rainfall, or where the summer rainfall is not sufficient to maintain some soil moisture.

Responds to nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and is a high forage producer under irrigation on fertile land. At the San Antonio nursery seed production is extremely low

without irrigation. Useful in irrige ted pastures in mixtures or alone for supplemental

grazing.

Likely Seed Areas. None in the Region.

Potential Yield and Quality. Growth begins in the fall under dry-land conditions,

earlier when irrigated. Under irrigation for seed production it can be grazed during

the winter and early spring. Stock should be removed by March 15 at San Antonio and

before stems are ready to elongate. If the field is bunchy it should be mowed high.

Stems are produced in April and flowers in late April and early May. The seeds generally are ready for harvest the last few days of May or the first week in June. The

seeds ripen unevenly in the dense panicles and shattering is a problem. Harvesting

should begin when the maximum number of spikelets show a well-developed fertile lemna

and while some of the louver ones cannot easily be shelled from the glumes. This can be

determined by picking a few short branches from the lower side of the panicle and

shelling the fertile florets in the palm of the hand. The fertile florets must be

pinched with the thumbnail to determine true fill which generally is good.

Production Under Irrigation. Under ideal conditions, seed production under irrigation

should reach 200 pounds per acre. At the San Antonio nursery the highest yield has

been 60 pounds per acre. It produces only one crop a year.
Dollisgross, Paspolum dilatotum. Panicle; two views of hoiry

spil(elet (seedunit ), and section of leaf showing ligule (i);

floret (F) witti tiard margins of lemma overlapping edge of

palea (/»); another view of floret (//) after removal of lemmo showing polea membrane lopping over the groin; three

views of grain.

Ribbed paspolum, Paspolum

molacophyllum. Ponicle and two

views of spikelet (seedunit); two views

of fertile floret [r¡ with lemma removed,

ond three views of groin.

Bohiogross, Paspolum notatum. Ponicle;

two views (5) of spikelet (seedunit); three

views of floret,(/) paleo side,(^) lemma

side and (J) lemmo removed to show

polea membrone lapping a/er ttie groin;

three views of groin.

PLATE II

Hardinggross, Pholaris tuberoso stenoptera.

Panicle, spikelet(5), ond floret (seedunit).
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Harvesting. Hardinggrass is easily combined, as the panicles stand above the leafy

part of the stems. Cylinder spacing of 1/8 to 1/4 inch and speed of 1400 to 1600 RPM

has been found most satisfactory. This removes the fertile florets from the glumes but

leaves a trashy mixture on the shoe sieve. The chaff can be floated off by adjusting

the shoe sieve close and using a small amount of air. Where good cleaning equipment

is available the chaff need not be separated from the seeds in the combine. The seeds

can be harvested with a bluegrass stripper and 2-reel stripper without mixing in much

trash.

Care of Green Seed. Trashy seed material from the combine and stripper should be

thoroughly dried before cleaning.

Cleaning. Trashy seed material can be run over the scalper to remove much of the

Coarse' material. The fanning mill or 3 screen cleaner will separate the seeds from

the small chaff.

Quality. The seedunit is the filled fertile floret with or without the short sterile

floret (bract) attached at the base on one edge. It closely resembles the units of

some species of native canarygrass. Quality depends on purity and whether the seeds

have been carefully cured. The gravity cleaner is necessary to clean to high purity.

The average purity at the laboratory is 90 percent, the 7-day germination 38 percent

and the final germination 60 percent. Dormancy accounts for the low final germination.

There are approximately 350,000 units in a pound of pure seed. Iniported seeds often

contain the seeds of other perennial and annual phalaris,

TEXAS BLUEGRASS (Poa arachnifera)

Adaptation and Use. Texas bluegrass is a native perennial, sod-forming, cool-season

grass with slender underground stems. It is found on the prairies and plains from

Southern Kansas to southern Texas and western Arkansas. It is widely but sparsely

scattered in sandy upland pastures and not infrequently in small patches along stream

bottoms and heavy upland soils. It is a major constituent of sand sagebrush range

along the North and South Canadian rivers in Oklahoma, where it furnishes the bulk of

green winter forage available in native pastures. It is well represented in many of

the sand shinnery pastures. It seems best adapted to upland sandy or loam soils and

to heavier soils in the presence of favorable moisture.

The protein content is very high during the period of fresh growth. Yearling steers

fed 2 pounds of cottonseed cake per day on native range at the Southern Great plains

Unit near Woodward gained 27 pounds per head from mid-October 1948 to March 1, 1949.

A similar lot of steers without any cake but grazing Texas bluegrass gained 67 pounds

per head in the same period. Weather conditions during the period were extremely

severe for cattle.

Seed supplies have not been adequate for extensive trials over the Region where the

grass does not now occur. It has been successfully established from seeds in deep

sand on the Range Unit of the Southern Great Plains Field Station, Woodward, Oklahoma.

Fall seeding is probably preferable.

Likely Seed Areas . No extensive natural seed areas are known to exist. A few brushfree pastures between Pond Creek and Lamont, Oklahoma represent the best sources for

bulk collections. Some seeds can be collected by hand along streams in northwest

Oklahoma.

Potential Yield and Quality. The sexes of Texas bluegrass are found on separate plants

and usually in separate colonies. The seed-bearing inflorescences are generally larger

than those of the male plant and prominently "cob-webby". The fertile florets bear at

the base several long webby hairs which are few or often absent from the male florets.
-64-

Fill is determined by squeezing the grains out of the fertile florets and counting to

get the percentage. At Woodward, whenever a harvestable crop of seed heads are produced, the fill is apt to be high. A fill of 50 percent or more is good enough for

harvest.

Production Under Cultivation. Production under irrigation and cultivation is entirely

feasible and constitutes the only hope for market supplies. Increase blocks may be

established from either seed or sod. Six-inch sods spaced 3 feet each way will spread

and form a solid stand in 2 to 3 years. Plant the seed in 12- to 24-inch rows. A

hand-sodded stand conposed of 80 to 90 percent female plants and 10 to 20 percent male

plants should return maximum yields, which might exceed 100 pounds per acre under

irrigation.

Harvesting. In northern Oklahoma the seeds are ready to cut by early July. The kinky

hairs on the fertile florets cling to everything they touch and are impossible to

thresh in any known combine or thresher. The best method used to date is to remove

all sieves from the cleaning shoe, remove the straw rack, disconnect all seed augers,

and leave only the sickle, cylinder and grain drag to function normally. As the material

is cut it goes intact through the cylinder and is carried by the grain drag to the empty

cleaning shoe. When the shoe is full the material is removed by hand and tossed into

a truck. This is called harvesting-by-hand-with-a-combine. A header would accomplish

much the same result.

Care of Green Seed. Freshly cut seed material should be spread and dried before

processing to avoid heating and molding.

Cleaning and Processing. Texas bluegrass seed material must be processed to remove

the webby hairs before it can be planted by any means. The combine-run material is

fed direct into a hammer mill equipped with a screen having large (1/2-inch) openings

to merely chop up the material. The chopped material is then rerun through the mill,

equipped with a screen with much smaller openings and then through a fanning mill to

remove free grain and clean florets. No fewer than 3 reruns, and sometimes as many as

7, are necessary to obtain clean plantable florets. The trash in the original combinerun material largely determines the time required in the processing and cleaning. The

possibility exists that if the freshly cut seed material is run through a finely set

ensilage cutter, the hammer mill time could be shortened.

Quality. Properly processed and recleaned seed is usually composed of 2 grades - clean

grain and unhulled florets. The clean grain should have a purity of above 90 percent;

unhulled florets a purity of 65 to 75 percent. Pure seed Cannot be attained in either

grade because of the normal presence of bits of stem the size and weight of the seedunits. A pound of pure clean grain contains about 2,500,000 seeds. A pound of pure

processed but unhulled florets contains about 1,750,000 units. The known longevity

is 5 years. Dormancy of 2 to 4 months is recorded.

INDIANGRASS (Sorghastrum nutans )

Adaptation and Use. Indiangrass is a deep-rooted, native perennial occurring throughout

the tall grass and mixed grass prairies and in the tree-oak and shrub-oak savannahs.

In the well protected savannahs it is an important part of the grassland vegetation.

On sandy soils under such conditions it is more important than big bluestem. It is

used in meadow mixtures in the Coastal, Grand, Blackland and eastern Oklahoma prairies.

When planted in pure stands it will produce a ground cover sooner than either big or

little bluestem. Where grazing is lighter than the commonly accepted standard in the

Central Prairies, Indiangrass will increase, form a part of the forage with little

bluestem and be an indicator of use. In the cutover West Cross Timbers where it is

partially protected, good yields of hay are not uncommon.
Indiangrass, Sorghostrum nutans. Ponicle,

leaf, and section of leaf showing ligule

(L); seedunit or joint of a raceme composed of fertile spikelet, stalk (5) of

sterile spikelet whicti never develops,

ond tioiry joint (j)\ three views of groin.

PLATE 12
-65-

Likely Seed Areas. Mixed or pure stands in the protected West Cross Timbers furnish

seeds for small harvests. Railroads in northern Arkansas, in parts of Texas and Oklahoma

are sources of small lots of seed. Rarely anywhere are there blocks large enough to

accommodate combines or binders. Growers have been slow to establish seed blocks to

even start satisfying the demand for the seeds.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Indiangrass seeds mature from late September

to frost or even later. The time depends on the August and September rainfall. The

procedure for determining quality and yield is much like that for little bluestem. If

late July and August moisture is enough to develop the stems then an examination of the

stage of seed development should be made about 10 days after flowering starts (about

September 10). If 20 percent of the grains are developing the seed is poor to fair,

if 40 percent, the seed is good; if 60 percent or more, the prospects of a crop are

excellent.

Indiangrass is one of the easiest grasses to check for fill. The fertile spikelet is

large enough to handle easily and squeeze between the thumbnail and forefinger. A

hundred spikelets can be examined in 10 minutes and if taken at random will supply all

the information needed to set an approximate date for harvest. If, on September 20,

50 percent of the spikelets show evidence of maturing grain and the clunps are large,

and average 1 per 9 square feet, the yield of seed should equal 125 pounds per acre.

Indiangrass ripens between Septe¡mber 25 and November 1. Seeds have been collected as

late as November 15 in central Texas. The development of the large panicle is normally

irregular, so harvesting should be planned at a time when some of the topmost spikelets

have fallen and the middle ones are in the hard-dough stage. The spikelets fall in a

week or 10 days after the grains have reached the vitreous-amber stage. A frost during

this period followed by high winds hastens the shedding of the filled spikelets, but not

the empty ones. The latter may hang on for several weeks and give the impression that

good seeds are still available.

Production Under Cultivation. Small blocks on the nursery under dry-land conditions

often yield 150 pounds per acre. Moisture is nearly always the limiting factor in stem

production and seed yields. If planted in rows, under irrigation and fertilized with

a high nitrogen fertilizer a good yield may be expected. In 1948 near Whitesboro, Texas

fertilized non-irrigated row plantings had a 90 percent fill, while unfertilized native

stands had less than 10 percent fill.

Harvesting. If the areas are large enough a combine or binder can be used to harvest

Indiangrass. Both have worked satisfactorily on the nursery. Binding the straw when

the tippermost spikelets are in the hard-dough stage permits more of tlie remaining grains

to develop during the curing period in the shock. When combining the straw cut it high

to reduce the amount taken through the cylinder and prevent overloading of the straw

rack and chaffers. Keep cylinder speed fairly low (900 to 1100 RPM), the chaffer set

half open and the wind cut down. Indiangrass may be cut and the seedhay spread on the

planting areas. This method is recommended for badly eroded and gullied sites. Indiangrass can be topped economically with a sickle from wild stands. One man can cut

200 to 600 pounds of tops in a 10-hour day. The tops may be hauled to the planting

area or cured on a canvas and stacked for threshing.

Care of Green Seed. Seedhay must be dried after topping; 24 to 48 hours of sunshine

and air are needed before stacking starts. Fresh seeds from the combine should remain

in the open and loose to cure well before sacking. Do not cure on concrete if other

surfaces are at hand. Turn the seeds at least once a day while curing.

Cleaning and Processing. As combined, Indiangrass seeds contain considerable straw

and chaff. The fanning mill will remove some of this trash. However, because the seed

unit is hairy and consists of 2 hairy stalks in addition to the long awn, processing

948413 O—51 8
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with a hammer mill at rather slow speeds is almost necessary in order to trim the units

where they will readily pass through a grass drill or cotton planter box with an agitator. Most processed material consists of deawned spikelets and naked grains. By

adjusting the hammer mill carefully, the units can be processed completely and the

chaff separated from the grain with a fanning mill. Clean seeds (grain) from the hammer

mill contain a small percentage of chipped and broken grains. Deawning is quite necessary if the trashy seeds are to be mixed with other seeds and planted from a grass

drill.

Quality. The average purity of Indiangrass seeds is 68 percent, the 7 day germination

35 percent, the final germination 62 percent. There are 175,000 filled trashy spikelets in a pound of pure seed. The viability period exceeds 2 years in storage. There

is a period of dormancy of at least 3 months after harvest. Chilling increases the

germinat ion.

tEXAS WINTERGRASS (S tipa leucotricha)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A winter-growing, perennial bunchgrass. Stems slender,

leafy only at the base; leaves narrow, evenly covered with short rough hairs; inflorescence a drooping panicle, expanding in April and ^fely and consisting of numerous singlefloret, awned spikelets; florets cigar-shaped, hard, one-seeded with a long, bent,

twisted awn and a needle like callus. Grows during the cool season from September until

mid-spring. During the hot weather, the plants are semidormant, partly dry, harsh and

unpalatable. Nearly awnless cleistogenes or fruits are abundantly produced in the

lower sheaths near the ground-level. These germinate when fires burn off the tops and

when the rain and animals tear the decaying sheaths apart. An increase in the number

of plants usually follows a long drought. A native of the grasslands extending from

the Gulf in southeast Texas to the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma and west nearly to

the High Plains, It has increased in many sites where the taller grasses have been

reduced. A dependable grass in mixtures where moisture is available. Useful mainly

for cool-season grazing. Prefers alkaline soils. Well adapted in the Grand Prairie,

Edwards Plateau, Feddish Prairie, Coast Prairie, and sections of the Rolling Plains.

Likely Seed Areas. Rich divides of the southern Edwards Plateau and overgrazed brushy

areas of southern and central Texas.

Determining Potential Yield and Quality. Along the Gulf Coast and inner prairies of

the Gulf Coast, flowering begins in March and fruits mature in April depending on rainfall. Flowering is usually 3 weeks later in the northern part of the range. Only

aerial seeds are harvested. Shattering takes place within a week after the florets

are brown and mature. Usually some loss has occurred when the main crop is ready.

Potential yield depends on the number of stems. A fair yield may be expected if the

average number of stems is 5 per square foot and there are 24 seeds per stem. This is

equal to an acre-yield of about 100 pounds of filled florets with the awns removed.

One stem per square foot therefore will equal 2 0 pounds of pure seed per acre.

Production Under Cultivation. Texas wintergrass has never been cultivated for the

seeds. Planted in rows and cultivated, the yields should be as large as from broadcast

stands and a good deal cleaner.

Harvesting. Although there has been some demand for seeds, no one up to 1949 had found

a successful method of harvesting. In 1949 several operators using bluegrass strippers

were able to obtain fairly large quantities at reasonable costs. The stripped material

is a mass of awns that can be handled best with a scoop shovel.

Trials in other years with combines were unsuccessful, as no combine will break or

remove the awns. The ability of the florets to cling together and roll xjp caused

trouble at several points in the combine.
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Care of Green Seed. Stripped seeds can be piled to a depth of 2 feet without heating.

The material should be cured for a day or two in the sun before it is piled.

Cleaning and Scarifying. The cured seed material cannot be cleaned in a combine. After

extra drying in the sun, the following method of cleaning was worked out at the San

Antonio nursery: Drive the hammer mill with tractor; keep speed of mill reduced to a

minimum, i.e. , just fast enough to hold the hammers out; use a 1/2 inch screen; feed

the awned material slowly into the mill; pick up milled material with suction fan and

carry it to cleaner, there using a blank sheet of metal instead of a screen and air to

remove only the dust and small particles of trash. The seed material remaining consists

of 50 percent of the florets free of awns, 35 percent with awns partly broken off,

15 percent with awns intact and attached, many pieces of callus, and all the broken

awns detached by the hammer mill. Only a small percentage of the florets and grain was

broken. With this experience, machinery can be constructed that will remove all awns

and calluses and produce seeds high in purity and easy to plant. Those described above

are plantable from grass drills.

Quality. Up to the time this is written, no method of obtaining readily plantable

seeds has been found. Quality seeds should be the deawned florets with a fill not

less than 75 percent. There are approximately 50,000 to 60,000 deawned filled florets

in a pound. The germination of such seeds in the field should be high after the dormant

summer period and not less than 50 percent in 7 days.

EASTERN GAMAGRASS (Tripsacum dactyloides)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A vigorous, smooth, leafy perennial spreading by

thick, scaly rhizomes which radiate from center of clump and carry the thick bases of

the leaves until disintegrated; stems and sheaths somewhat flattened; blades often

2 feet long and flat; inflorescence a simple spike or several branches, the male flowers

(tassel) above and female (grain-bearing) below, the former drop off before the seeds

are ripe, the latter break up at the one-seeded joints; fruit a single joint of the

inflorescence, consisting of the thickened axis and the wholly or partially imbedded

spikelet; grain 2 to 4 mm in diameter.

A tall grass of the eastern prairies, stream banks and stream bottoms. A narrcwleaf

form is known from the deep sands of East Texas. Isolated colonies are rarely seen

along streams in West Texas. Used principally for hay but is a go<xl grazing grass if

managed to maintain vigor.

Likely Seed Areas. Stream bottoms in eastern and southeastern Texas and eastern

Oklahoma. Also black or heavy soil prairies west of the timber belt of East Texas,

where occasionally it makes up half the total grass cover.

Potential Yield and Quality. The leaf area of vigorous, closely spaced plants is equal

to several tons of green fodder an acre. The plants should be cut in June for hay

before the stems elongate and leaves become harsh. Flowers ^pear in late June. The

fruit ripens in July and later, because of the uneven production of stems.

Several crops may be produced during the growing season when soil moisture brings out

the stems. Uneven ripening and the normally few (1 to 2 per square foot) stems makes

this grass a poor seed producer. With an average of 16 pistillate joints per stem and

1 stem per square foot the maximum seed production cannot exceed 100 pounds per acre.

Half this amount is a high yield when the easy shattering of the ripe joints is considered. A yield of 10 pounds per acre is what may be expected. As the joints ripen,

they lose their green color, become tan, and when mature, are shiny brown or shiny tan

and bony. The grains will mature if picked just as the joints begin to change color.
68-

Fill is determined by cutting across the joint and the spikelet with a knife. Pressure

of the thumb will not suffice. The material is of doubtful value if fewer than half

the spikelets are filled.

Production Under Cultivation. Twenty pounds per acre is a good yield.

Harvesting. Eastern gamagrass can be stripped with a power grass stripper if the

cylinder can be elevated above the leaves. It also can be combined. Handstripping is

the usual method of harvest. Pure seed can be obtained with the latter method and

with the combine. The low yield will not always justify the use of a combine.

Care of Green Seed. Seed hand-harvested or machine-stripped should be spread out and

cured slowly.

Quality. The seedunit is a joint of the thick spike containing a deeply imbedded,

filled spikelet. It is about the size of a kernel of corn. The fertile floret is

completely enclosed within the bony glumes. The grain is 2 to 4 mm in diameter. There

are about 7200 filled seedjoints in a pound of pure seed. The purities range from 95

to 99 percent, the 7-day germination, 60 percent. Field germination is slow unless

some scarification is given the spikelets. The seeds maintain good viability in storage

for 2 years.
Texas winfergross, S^>«7 leucotricho. Ponicle; floret (A"), lemma U) wrapped

oround paleo and groin, knife-edged collus (C)^ cleistogamous fruit {Fr)

from 0 basol sheott); two glumes {A); short-owned lemmo {.B) enclosing

ttie plump groin; poleo-like bract {p)\ two views of groin (¿7).

Eostern gamagross, Tripsaeum doclyloides. Panicle and leaf; seedunit (U)

consisting of pistillate spikelet (5) sunken in tlie hollow side of roc his

joint {j); side view of pistillate spikelet (5/) offer removal from the

joint; groin (S). PLATE 13
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DISCUSSION OF LEGUMES

ALYCECLOVER (Alysicarpus vaginalis)

Adaptation and Use. Alyceclover is a summer annual, with unifoliate, nearly round

leaves and slender jointed pods. It is a native of tropical Asia and was first introduced into the United States in 1910. It is not adapted to wet lands „ makes poor growth

in soils of low fertility, and is not planted outside the high rainfall belt of eastern

Texas, southern Arkansas and Louisiana. Alyceclover is susceptible to rootknot or

nematode. It is useful for hay, green manure and grazing. Late May seedings on

clean seedbeds are recommended for seed production.

Seed Areas. Grown only under cultivation.

Managing for Seed. When seeds are wanted, the young crop should be mowed short about

August 1, or when plants have reached a height of 8 inches. This induces branching,

keeps growth shorter, reduces lodging and increases production. By waiting for more

growth, a hay crop can be removed and the second growth allowed to develop seed. The

harvest date is October 1 to 15. Harvesting begins when about one-half the pods are

brown.

Harvesting. Two methods of harvesting are used. One, the clover is mowed while a

little damp, cured in the swath about two days until the leaves and branches are dry,

then picked up and threshed with a combine. The other, the standing planes, if upright,

are combined direct. Lodged plants usually are tough and cannot be handled in direct

combining. The seeds shatter easily. The combine need not be adjusted too close to

obtain the seeds. Use enough air to keep the chaff off the lower sieve, and adjust

this sieve to allow the smooth oblong seeds to drop through. The average run of combined

seed is free of pods and contains only a small percentage of joints.

Production Under Cultivation, Yields up to 600 pounds per acre have been obtained.

The average is hardly 300 pounds.

Care of Seed. Until thoroughly dry, the seeds should be placed in small sacks and set

pn racks where the air can freely circulate, or spread out and stirred occasionally.

Cleaning. The 3-screen mill is used to clean the seed. The upper screen is 1/13 inch,

the second, 1/16 inch, and the third, 1/22 inch. In most cases, the results from one

run through the mill are satisfactory. The gravity cleaner may be used to complete

the cleaning.

Quality. The average purity of alyceclover is 98 percent, the 7-day germination only

12 percent, the final germination 60 percent with 23 percent hard seed. Most lots should

be scarified before the planting to increase the germination. There are 308,000 seeds

in a pound of pure seed. The known longevity is 4 years. Usually the seed should not

be held more than 2 years before planting.

CRETE CROWNVETCH (Coronilla crética)

Adaptation and Use. Much-branched, weak-stemmed, leafy, winter annual with small

clusters of whitish flowers borne on stalks; pods very narrow, jointed, each joint

containing a slender seed. Recently introduced from the Mediterranean Region. Makes

excellent growth on fertile soil during the winter. The plant is covered with seed-pods

in May. Has survived, reseeded and become naturally nodulated in 3 years in clay soil

of the oak shinnery and grass pastures in Mills County, Texas. Probably not cold-hardy

north of latitude 34**. Useful for cover and green manure. Suitable for temporary

grazing with perennia1 grasses, but needs further trial.
.-70-

Likely Seed Areas. None. Grown only in the Soil Conservation Service nursery so far

a s known.

Managing for Seed. No diseases or insects observed on the plants. When stem growth

slows down, there usually are several clusters of flowers and pods produced. These

become scattered when the stems elongate. Flowering is, therefore, quite indeterminate.

Some joints will break apart before the usual May harvest. When the vines begin to

dry up and most of the pods are brown, the crop is ready to harvest.

Production Under Cultivation. Without irrigation, the yields are between 150 and 300

pounds per acre. With irrigation and fertilization, the yields are as high as 750 pounds

per acre.

Harvesting. This crownvetch can be harvested with a combine. Where the land is free

of rocks and sticks, the sickle should be set within an inch of the groundlevel to pick

up the semiprostrate stems; the cylinder set at 1/8 inch and with a speed of approximately 1500 RFM. The chaffer is set nearly closed and the wind cut off.

The stems can be cut with a mower while damp and windrowed before drying. Long pickup

guards on the mower bar help to lift the nearly prostrate stems.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seed does not need much drying before it is sacked.

Cleaning and Processing. Seed material from the combine consists mostly of joints or

pieces of pod, each covering a slender seed. Use the scarifier to break up the pieces,

and reclean the material with a fanning mill. Trashy lots of combined seed have been

run through the hammer mill without many seeds being broken. Use a l/4''inch hole screen

and a cylinder speed of 1000 RFM or less. Keep the mill full of material. Reduce the

speed of the cylinder if too many seeds break during the milling.

Quality. Nursery-harvested seeds average 88 percent purity, have a 7-day germination

of 57 percent and a final germination of 60 percent plus 31 percent hard seed. The

seeds usually are readily germinable. There are 241,000 in a pound. The longevity

is at least 2 years.

STRIPED CROTALARIA (Crota laria mucronata}

Adaptation and Use. A tall, branched, leafy annual introduced from eastern Africa.

Has smaller leaves (each with three leaflets), flowers, pods, and seeds than showy

crotalaria. The flower is striped with narrow purple lines. The plants mature later

and the stems are harder and do not break up as easily as showy crotalaria. The late

maturity permits additional fall growth when soil moisture is sufficient. Striped

crotalaria is adapted to the southern two-thirds of the Region in the moderate and

high rainfall belts. In Florida it was selected as an important species from several

tried for green manure and good seed habits.

Likely Seed Areas. No natural seed areas.

Managing for Seed. This plant will often make a late crop of seed. Shattering is

light and the pods usually remain attached during part of the winter.

Production Under Cultivation. In rows 36 to 40 inches apart the seed yield is 300 to 500

pounds per acre.

Harvesting. Same as showy crotalaria.

Care of Green Seed. Same as showy crotalaria.

Cleaning and Processing. Same as showy crotalaria.
Alyceclover, Alysicorpus vaginolis. Flowering

and fruiting branch; two views of seed.

Showy crotoloria, Crotalaria sptctabilis. Flowering

branch and pod; two views of seed.

Crete crownvetch, Coronilla crético. Flowering

and fruiting branch; section of branch and

stipule (5); three views of seed.

PLATE 14

if

• e

striped croio\or'ia, Crololarlo

mucronata. Flowering branch

and pod; two views of seed.
-71

Quality. The laboratory tests of this species show a low average germination of 18

percent in 7 days, and only one percent additional in a 28-day period. More than 63

percent of the seeds are hard. Poor volunteer stands indicate that wintering on the

soil does not give much increase in germination. Seed scarification, therefore, is

necessary to obtain stands. There are 98,000 seeds in a pound of pure seed. They are

about a third as large as those of showy crotalaria.

SHOWY CROTALARIA (Crotalaria spectabilis)

Adaptation and Use. A tall, branched annual with showy yellow flowers, large simple

leaves and large inflated pods. Useful as a green manure and cover crop, in welldrained sandy soils of the southern two-thirds of the Region. When grown for more than

one year in the same field it is known to have reduced rootknot or nematode. The seeds

and forage are toxic to animals. Livestock usually will not eat the green forage unless

extremely hungry. The stems are fibrous and disintegrate readily when dry to form an

excellent mulch.

Likely Seed Areas. No natural seed areas.

Managing for Seed. For seed production, plant about May 15^ The plants are indeterminate in flowering and pod development; mature pods, green pods and blossoms may

be found on any plant. Under some conditions the pods pop and scatter the seeds

shortly after maturity. Variations in soil fertility and moisture within a field

increase variability of maturity. These factors make it extremely difficult to estimate yield and quality. Thick spacing causes the plants to mature more uniformly.

Late planting in time for seeds to ripen will usually produce smaller plants. The

smaller plants make harvesting easier. The harvest is usually in October after some

or all the leaves have fallen. Shattering increases rapidly after a heavy frost.

Production Under Cultivation. Planted in rows 8 to 16 inches apart in fields of reasonably uniform soil and fertility and well cultivated prior to seeding to control weeds,

the yields may reach 800 pounds per acre. The average is about half this amount.

Yields from broadcast and volunteer stands are always lower.

Harvesting. Several methods have been tried Frequent hand picking of mature pods

will insure maximum yield of top grade seed. But this method is only practicable on a

small scale or where labor is cheap. A home supply of seed also is obtained by cutting

the heads and threshing with a flail, or by striking the heads against a net wire

stretched over a wagon bed or box.

For direct conbining, frequent examinations must be made to determine the time the

maximum nuii±>er of seeds are available. The combine should be set to release the riper

seeds but not more of the greener ones than necessary. A sticky material from the

green seeds and pods tends to remain on the chaffer and lower screen preventing free

movemsnt of seeds. Also much green material, immature seeds, and pieces of stems cannot

be screened or blown out because of this stickiness. The large seeds permit some

air to be used. The combine must be cleaned daily to get all available seeds.

The crop can be cut with a binder, shocked under caps and threshed with a separator

or combine. Some shattering will occur with this method.

Care of Green Seed. With much green material in combined seeds, heating occurs quickly.

Spread thin and stir frequently until well dried. Allowing the seeds to heat reduces

the viability.

Cleaning and Processing. Combined seeds are mixed with pieces of pods, stems aWi other

material. When thoroughly dry they can be cleaned without difficulty in ordinary

fanning mills using a No. 12 upper screen and No. 8 lower screen. Scarifying is necessary to obtain reasonably uniform germination. Use a scarifier that does not crack

the thick seed coat.
-72-

Quality. Seeds grown in Alabama appear to be more uniform in color and size than those

grown in Louisiana. Comparison of tests from the two states shows 83.46 percent and

65.17 percent pure live seed, respectively. There are 27,000 seeds in a pound of pure

seed. The average purity is 99 percent, the 7 day germination 36 percent and final

germination 38 percent plus an equal nuirber of hard seed. The high percentage of hard

seeds in any lot must be considered in any type of planting.

Diseases. No widespread epidemics of disease have been reported. Anthracnose, southern

blight, stem canker and damping off have caused some reduction in stands. Leaf spot

is common and causes partial defoliation of some stands. The plants are resistant to

nema t ode.

GUAR (Cyamops is tetra^onoloba )

Adaptation and Use. Guar is an upright, stiff-stemmed summer annual; the stems either

with single leaders or much branched, 3 to 6 feet tall; leaflets three; flowers small,

borne in axillary, clustered racemes along the stems and branches. Two varieties are

grown in this Region--the compact or single-leader type with short branches and the

open, branched type with more foliage.

In India, the young pods are used as human food and the whole plant as forage for cattle.

In feeding trials, the seed residue, after the extraction of the gums, is palatable to

livestock and has been used successfully in mixed feeds. In the late '20s, guar was

tried under field conditions in the Blackland of Texas to see if it would evade root

rot. Some plants were affected each year. It is now used as a soil-improving crop

in rotation with flax in southern Texas, and has possibility for strip-cropping and

iiïproving peanut land in other parts of Texas and Oklahoma. The plants thrive in most

soils, but grow best in the sandy loams.

Likely Seed Areas. At present, only in the flax section around Kenedy, Texas.

Managing for Seed. When used in a rotation with flax, the seeds are planted in early

June. They mature in October. Harvesting begins in late October or early November.

Early April plantings will mature seeds in late July, and, if moisture is available,

a volunteer crop will sprout when the seeds are disked under. The pods ripen even

while the stems remain green and remain attached without shattering. If harvest is

delayed, the seeds will turn dark, but discoloration of this sort does not affect

germination. The pods are left until fully mature before harvesting.

Yields Under Cultivation. Usually 400 to 700 pounds per acre when planted in rows.

Spring planted tests at the Wichita Valley Experiment Station, Texas during 1943, 1944,

1945, and 1946 produced an average yield of 724 pounds of seed per acre. In Arizona

plots, yields have been as high as 2500 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. The season starts in late October and continues into November in the

flax section; in August when the planting is in early April. The combine does a good

job of harvesting. Adjust the reel to bend the stalks over the sickle before the sickle

cuts them, as the jar from the sickle causes some pods to break away from the stem.

Rubber belting or strips of stable broom attached to reel bats will help to prevent

the scattering of pods. In Arizona, heavily lodged plants were harvested with a minimum

loss with the combine reel removed. The apron or table-canvas machines seem to work

better than the auger types. The cylinder-concave spacing should be wide to allow

the stalks to pass through without shredding. Keep the cylinder speed low, as the

pods break easily. Adjust the chaffer to carry out most of the short trash. Use as

much air as is necessary. Proper adjustment of the machine results in a clean job of

threshing.
.,.-h¿uy-V^. ^.iilíi^.-ii.:^¿ W:. .r¿Av/-.i:-i,.^. ^\í.,ÍÍ'-;fevlV^-¿1

Singletorypeo, Lattiyras hirsutas.

Fruiting branches; two views of

seed.

Guor, Cyomopsis tetrogonoloba. Flowering and fruiting

parts of stem of Texsel variety; enlarged views of

branched hoirs on upper (¿/) side of leaflet and on

lower (¿) side; two views of seed.

PLATE 15
-73-

Care of Green Seed. The seeds can be sacked at the combine, and stored without danger

of heating. Rats will not eat the seeds of guar.

Cleaning and Processing. Normally, combined seeds do not need cleaning. Scarifying

is recommended before planting, although satisfactory stands have been obtained from

unscarified seed.

Quality. Laboratory samples to date have an average purity of 99 percent, a 7-day

germination of 54 percent and a final germination of 65 percent plus 6 percent hard

seed. There are 13,000 in a pound of pure seed. The longevity is 2 years. The

dormant period is nearly zero for stalk-ripened seeds.

Diseases and Insects. In 1948 R. B. Streets, A. L. Matlock and D. C. Alpli reviewed

the diseases and insects attacking guar in bulletin 216 of the Arizona Experiment

Station. No serious plant losses from diseases or insects have been recorded. In

Arizona where guar fields adjoined alfalfa fields, the three cornered alfalfa hopper

caused some damage to the leaves. Tree hoppers caused severe injury by girdling the

young stems 2 to 4 inches above the soil line.

Guar is subject to such diseases as cotton root rot (Phynatotrichun onnivorun), wilt

(Fusariun), Rhizoctonia root rot, and stem rot or southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsi).

The branched mesa variety is highly resistant to cotton root rot, while the unbranched,

early maturing TexseJ variety is fairly susceptible to this root rot but resistant to

S. rolfsi. In 1943 Mosaic (virus) reduced seed yields in Arizona up to 50 percent,

but did not reappear in 1948. In 1944 Chester reported that a lethal virus disease

caused an estimated loss of 75 percent in a field of guar in Oklahoma. The disease

became **masked in hot weather, but in the fall there was a spectacular return of symptoms'*.

A Iternaria leaf spot, the only common leaf disease, may cause extensive defoliation

under abnormally humid conditions.

S INGLETARYPEA (LathyrtLS hirsutus var . )

Adaptation and Use. Singletarypea, Caleypea, roughpea or wild winterpea, is a tendrilbearing, leafy, annual, winter legume. It is native to the Mediterranean region. The

vines sometimes grow to 3. feet in length, become very rank and dense, and bear roughhairy pods. Used as a cover and soil improving crop and for grazing. It is adapted

to a variety of soils and conditions and thrives on the dark clays where other winter

legumes fail because of poor drainage. It has been grown successfully as far west as

the 35-inch rainfall line and has survived the cold as far north as Forrest City,

Arkansas. Its range of use in our Région is not fully known.

Likely Seed Areas. None outside of cultivated areas.

Managing for Seed. The blossoms of this legume appear in late April and to the middle

of May or later. Pods develop in late May and June. If there is moisture, flowering

and fruiting continues and an abundance of pods form. Shattering begins after the

pods turn brown and during the heat of the day. For the most seeds select the period

when the vines show decline and the most pods are nearing maturity. Some growers plant

oats with this '*pea". The largest yields in southwestern Arkansas are obtained when

planted with Abruzzi rye or in the stubble of combine sorghum to provide support for

the vines. This prevents matting and excessive scalding and assures easier combining.

In some cases after 2 successive years of growth in a field the vines become so rank

they are difficult to combine. Third year stands from such fields are not always

harvested for seed.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields are unbelievably high on well inoculated,

fertile fields. Yields to 2000 pounds per acre are not unusual, tlie average is about

800 pounds.
-74-

Harvesting. The harvest period is from June 5 to July 1. Much shattering occurs when

harvesting is delayed until all pods are brown. Start mowing and windrowing when onehalf to three-fourths the pods are brown. Both operations should be completed while

dew is on the vines. For best results in combining a standing crop, wait until about

90 percent of the pods are brown, set the sickle low, space the cylinder and concave

wide and keep cylinder speed below 1000 RB^f. Examine the seeds frequently, as it may

be necessary to reduce cylinder speed two or three times a day to prevent cracking.

Care of Green Seed. The green **peas" from the combine will heat if stored in sacks or

in a bin. They should be stirred and aerated until danger of heating is over. This

takes about 10 days. Some growers clean the seeds before heating advances. The handling

and aerating sometimes permit sacking from the cleaner.

Cleaning. Seeds from the combine vary from 50 to 90 percent pure. Cleaning is done

with a 2-screen fanning mill or a 3-screen mill. Adjust the air in the fanning mill

to blow out light seed and light trash. Use a No. 12 top screen, and a 6/64 x 3/4-inch

bottom-screen. To obtain pure seeds free of oats, rye and pieces of crayfish mounds

run the material through a spiral or cylinder separator. When the 3-screen mill is

used the top screen has 3/8-inch perforations, the second the size to a How "peas*'to

fall through and the third with holes smaller than the**peas"to take out any small trash

not blown out. Trials of different screen openings must be made each year to fit the

size of seeds produced. Where a mixture of oats and rye and "peas" are wanted, cleaning

with any fanning mill will produce plantable seeds.

Quality. Seeds tested at the laboratory have a 96 percent purity, a 7-day germination

of 24 percent and a final germination of 40 percent plus 42 percent hard seed. There

are 19,000 in a pound of pure seed. Normally they are not stored more than 2 years

before planting. Scarified seed germinate readily and result in good first year stands.

SHRUB LESPEDEZA (Lespedeza bicolor)

Adaptation and Use. A shrub, 4 to 10 feet tall, slender and nearly glabrous; leaflets

3, oval; pods somewhat hairy, 1/4 inch long. Native to Japan. Introduced as an ornamental and hardy as far north as Boston, Massachusetts. Used in the southeastern and

southern states for wildlife food (particularly quail), field borders and gully bank

stabilization. It is a desirable honey plant in late summer. Use-area in the Region

is west to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas and possibly the Cross Timbers. Grows

best in well drained soils; not adapted to tight or wet soils.

J^f^^^y Seed Areas. Grown in nurseries and seed blocks.

Managing for Seed. Individual plants vary widely in number of seeds produced. With

low fertility or competition many unfilled or poorly filled pods usually form. Under

excellent growing conditions with a heavy set of pods, many will be empty or contain

poorly developed seeds. The quality can be determined by feeling, A plunp pod nearly

always contains a hard, plump seed. Soft, flat, pale seeds are either dead or very

weak.

Production Under Cultivation. For the most seeds, the plants are grown in rows, cultivated to control weeds and fertilized. June and summer flowering, resulting in a poor

pod fill, decreases the ability of the plants to seed abundantly from normal fall flowers. Attempts to retard flowering and fruiting at the Minden Soil Conservation Service

nursery by topping the plants in late May have not been successful, because each year

summer drought seriously depressed summer and fall growth and prevented normal seed

production. Production is more certain in the northern third of the Region.

Harvesting. Maturity of the pods is relatively uniform. Shattering (pod fall) results

if the harvest is delayed after the pods ripen fully or become a deep brown. Combining
- 75-

is a satisfactory method of obtaining the seeds except for wear and tear on equipment.

The woody stems must be cut high to avoid running heavy stems through the machine. Some

of the lower seed-bearing branches are then missed. If the same field is to be combined

each year, the stubble from the previous year should be mowed short during the winter

to reduce hazards of sharp, woody stems. Steel-tired equipment will prove more economical because of damage to rubber tires. Cutting the stems with a machete and piling

before the seeds are dead ripe is a method of harvesting small acreages. After curing,

the piles are placed on a canvas or tight floor and flailed for the pods. A third

method of harvesting is to strip the ripe pods by hand after most of the leaves have

fallen. The pods are placed in bags attached to the stripper's belt. Hand stripping

is economical on small acreages.

Care of Green Seed. Pods combined and sacked ordinarily do not heat, but they should

be stored so as to allow free movement of air around them. Mature, stripped pods can

be sacked without further drying.

Cleaning and Processing. Whether combined or stripped, the seeds usually remain in

the brown pods. Hammermil1ing is necessary to remove the hulls. The holes in the

hammer mill screen should be large enough to accommodate the plumpest seeds but small

enough to keep the unhulled ones from falling through. The optimum speed for most

lots of seed will be near "grinding" speed, although trial runs should be made to

determine this. The broken hulls are removed with the fanning mill.

Quality. The purity of shrub lespedeza seed lots averages 97 percent, 7-day germinations 57 percent, complete germinations 60 percent plus 26 percent hard seed. Most

scarified seeds are readily germinable. There are 91,000 in a pound of pure seed. The

longevity is 4 to 5 years but this period has not been fully substantiated.

SERICEA LESPEDEZA (Lespedeza cuneata)

Adaptation and Use. Sericea lespedeza is a vigorous, branching perennial producing

buds on the stems above the crown and having a deep root system. Branches on welldeveloped older plants are numerous on the upper half of the main stems. The pods

are borne in clusters of 2 to 4 in the leaf axils along the branches and part of the

main stem. There are 2 kinds of flowers, some with and some without a corolla.

Used for soil conservation, soil iinprovement, hay, and grazing.

This introduced legume is adapted to a variety of neutral or acid soils. Good stands

have been produced on soils of low fertility abandoned for cotton and other crops

as well as on soils alkaline in reaction. Where the phosphorus level of the soil is

low, flowering and seed development are retarded.

Climatically sericea will grow in any part of our Region in the higher rainfall areas.

Likely Seed Areas. None available except on farms. The plant has not spread to any

extent beyond planted fields.

Managing for Seed. Several ways of handling sericea for seed have been tried. Most

farmers prefer to take the first cutting for hay and the second for seed, even though

less seed may be produced. The second cutting is more uniform in height, in branching

and in seed maturity. This is an advantage in combining, windrowing and binding. Should

2 cuttings of hay be taken from high fertility soils, a light crop of seed is all that

can be expected in normal years. To get the most seeds, it is advisable to cut the

preceding hay crop by the middle of June or by July 1 and leave at least 4 inches of

stubble to allow enough buds and stems to develop. Usually the earlier the hay is cut

the larger the seed crop from the second growth. Spots infested with dodder should

be cut, removed and burned before any dodder pods ripen.

948413 0—51 9
- 76-

Production Under Cultivation. Sericea is a heavy seed producer. The yields in spaced

rows reach 1000 jpounds per acre; in broadeäöt Stands they vary from 200 to 900 pounds;

under irrigation, as high as 1200 poüftd§.

Harvesting. Harvest tittte varies with thé location. October is the usual month. There

are several methods^ including Cutting and binding, combining, mowing and windrowing,

and mowing and Cbitásining from swath.

In binding, many fartrners start When the pods turn brown one-third to one half way down

the stems, shock withbUt caps and thresh within 2 weeks. Any tool, like the sweep rake,

that will carry the dry bundles to the thresher without extra handling saves seeds and

labor.

Cutting and windrowing is completed in one operation. It should begin when thé seeds

near the tips of the branches are firm but not dead ripe. Start any time of the day

when the stems are tough and before the pods are ready to fall from the stems. Windrowing works better on the smaller growth that is not over 36 inches high. After the

stems are in the windrow, they will stand considerable rain and a lot of bad Weather.

In northeastern Oklahoma in 1948, stems windrowed the first week of November were

satisfactorily combined the last week of December.

Coarse stemmy plants 5 to 8 feet tall are sometimes mowed, left in the swath and combined with a picktçj attachment by picking up butt ends of stems first. The mower swath

should be no wider than the combine. Such coarse material well cured need not be broken

up too much while passing through the threshing unit to obtain all the seeds.

With large acreages, start mowing and windrowing before standing material is ready to

combiné direct, then go back to straight combining when the seeds are ready.

Combining starts when most of the seeds are firm, nearly hard and turning brown, and

most of the pods are brown. A light frost puts such standing material in good shape

to combine. A heavy frost induces shattering after one or two days. High wind after

a heavy frost hastens the shattering to a point where the crop may be lost in 4 days.

Most operators combine by separating the pods frohi the stems without hulling the seeds.

Set the cylinder spacing at about 1/4 inch, the speed at 1100 RFM, the chaffer about

half open, deliver the tailings back of the cylinder and use some air. With much green

material, the cylinder speed is increased.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds cured in the shock and threshed or threshed from well-ai red

windrows can be sacked without danger of heating. Combined seeds will heat and should

be spread out and dried before sacking.

Cleaning and Proeessing. Combined material consists mainly of unhulled seeds, some

naked Seeds arid a small amount of trash. When traShy, thé material cart be scalped.

Hulling and scarifying can be done in one operation with a scarifier if the seeds are

properly ripened. With many green seeds mixed in, it may be necessary to run the lot

two or three times through the scarifier. For final cleaning, use the fanning mill or

larger mill. Hulled seeds containing dodder can be recleaned in a velvet-roller dodder

mill which usually reduces the dodder content to conform to most state laws.

Quality, yjiost sericea seeds are hulled before planting. The purity averages 98 percent,

7-day germination 37 percent and final germination 6S percent plus 20 percent hard seed.

There are 364, 000 in a pound of pure seed. Known longevity is 4 years. Unhulled seeds

have a lower germination - ¿1 percent in 7 day and 30 percent in completé tests of

28 days. Hulling and scarifying well-ripened seeds aré economical practices. When the

lot at harvest time contains a high percentage of so called Soft seeds due to excessive

moisture and a high percentage of green seeds, scarifying immediately after harvest is

a questionable practice. Delay scarification of such seeds until near planting time.
77-

IÇOBEAN i.ESP£PE?A (Lespedezß stipulßcß^a}

Adaptation ançi Use. A moderately growthy, drought resistant, leafy, summer annual with

broad leaflets and very prominent brown stipules. The fruiting branches bear close

spaced leaves (bracteal leaves) and numerous pods which are usually hidden by the

leaves,

Korean lespedeza is grown in %he northern half of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Us^d

for soil inproveroent, in summer grazing mixtures and in conservation cropping systems.

The strain "Climax" is being used in Oklahoma and elsewhere.

Lively Seed Areas. Cultivated for seed, ip, wild st^r^ls avfiilable. Commercial ^eed

comes from North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentpcky, and Missouri.

Managing for Seed. Jn dense stands;, Korean branches abundantly on the upper half of

the stems. Clipping and grazing induce branching. Qrowthy stands shoyld be cut high

for hay sometime between July 5 and July 20 ^nd the second growth left for seed. Well

developed plants produce hundreds qf podS- T^^ese remain on the plant sometimes most of

the winter. Disease has given some trpvib^e in foliage development but little in seed

formation. Severe attsicks of disease are r^re. Fields should be examined frequently

during the syniner for dodder. The spots of this parasite should be removed and burned

before it deye^ops pods.

Production Under Cultivation. Korean generally yields mpre seeds than other annual

lespedezas. Over 1200 pounds of filled ppds per acre are on record« The average yield

is from 250 tq 500 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. Korean is qne of the easiest legumes to hsirvest. It holds the pods well

into the fall and winter. The harvesting period, therefore, can be extended into late

fall. The seeds lisually are cqmbined from standing stems. The same adjustments and

screens as for Kobe and common are used, but the cylinder speed is increased to 1200

I^^. When weeds are mixed in, increase the cylinder speed. Lespedeza guards are used

tq pick Mp semiprostrate stems and provi<ie closer sickle-guard spacing.

Sintre shattering is np problem, weedy Korean stands are mowed, windrowed, cured and

threshed from the windrow, qr carried tq the r|»çhine by a sweep rake. The pan harvester

is nqt suit^ib^e fqr harvesting because qf the difficulty qf separating the pods from

the stems.

Care of Çjreen Seeds. Where green weeds are mixed with Korean seeds in the combine,

the seeds shquld be dried before sacking. I^i^ning freshly harvested seeds over the

scalper will help dry them.

Cleaning. Cleaning Korean seeds which contain ragweed, dodder and other similar seeds,

requires careful manipulations of screens. The gravity cleaner may be very desirable

to separate such seeds. Hulled seeds sqmetim^s cqntain the seeds of dqdder. These can

be reduced by running the lot through a velvet-roller dodder mill.

Quality. Korean filled pods qr unhulle^ seed units, are blunt, veiny and subtended by

a short-bracted involucre (calyx). The seeds are smooth, generally unspotted and somewhat larger than those of cqmmon lespedeza. There c^re 225,000 seeds in a pound of

filled pods. The longevity is 2 to 3 years. After-harvest dormancy covers about a

3-month period.

COMMON ANP KOBE LESFÇDEZA (Leápedeza striata)

Adaptation and Use. Much branched leafy sumrííer annuals; the flowers 1 to 3 together

in the leaf axils; the one•seeded pods ripen in October and fall as a unit. Kobe is

the higher-yielding variety with broad leaflets, maturing a little later than the
-78-

conmon. Common lespedeza has been in this country more than 100 years and is naturalized west to the 35-inch rainfall line in eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas, mostly

in soils of low fertility. Both kinds are used in conservation cropping systems and

for grazing, strip-cropping and hay. Weeds are an important factor in total growth and

seed production.

Likely Seed Areas. Idle mowed fields, mowed or grazed pastures and locally in waste

places. Farmers often harvest their own seed. Arkansas and Louisiana produce considerable

commercial seed.

Managing for Seed. For seed production, grow lespedeza on land free of such noxious

weeds as dodder and Johnsongrass. A smooth seedbed is needed for efficient mowing

and harvesting. Clip fields set aside for seed when weeds will interfere with harvesting imchinery. Phosphate ordinarily increases growth at the expense of weeds.

Managing the crop for seeds is largely a job of guessing the amount and time of rainfall.

Rank growth in the summer will permit cutting one crop for hay and leaving the shorter

aftermath for seed. The hay should be cut by July 15, but only if the growth is rank

and live buds are found on the stems below the mowline, and when "firing" or dying of

the lower leaves is absent or hardly noticed. When plants **f ire up" for some distance

on the stems, mowing in July will kill some of the plants. Two cuttings of hay will not

prevent a volunteer stand the following spring but will reduce it. Some hard seeds

always carry over to the second year. When two hay crops are cut and no seeds mature,

volunteering is helped by leaving narrow uncut strips during the second mowing. Moderately good stands with many branches yield more seeds than dense stands with few branches.

Branching is often increased by using the dense early growth for hay. Both varieties

shatter so easily during harvesting operations that enough seeds are distributed to

assure a volunteer stand the following year.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields are from 100 to 3 00 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. Common and Kobe mature seeds in October, Ordinarily the best harvesting

is done after frost. Many small farmers use the metal seed pan that is bolted to the

back of the cutter bar of the mower. The pan works best on short growth. It can be

used on wetter land than heavy equipment can work on. The pans are covered with a

perforated sieve and equipped with a shattering mechanism that drags the seedhay across

the sieve. Without this mechanism one man must rake the stems by hand across the sieve.

One large lespedeza harvester machine uses a continuous reel to drag the seedhay across

the perforated sieve.

The grain combine is efficient in harvesting both lespedezas. The crop is windrowed

before shattering begins, cured and combined, or carried to a stationary thresher or

combine with a sweep rake. The seeds should be harvested rapidly after they are ready.

When combining, set the cylinder spacing about 1/4 inch or less, use à cylinder speed

of 1100 RPM, set the chaffer about half open, the shoe sieve a third open, and reduce

the air. Some combines have a lespedeza attachment for use on the concaves to increase

shelling. The auger-canvas conveyors give less trouble with dry material working

under the canvas than do those with all-canvas conveyors.

Some farmers mow and stack the hay for threshing later. Excessive heating in the stack

will reduce the vitality of the seeds.

Care of Green Seed. Heating occurs when combined seeds contain green grass and weed

seeds. Pan-threshed seeds should not be piled or sacked until cured.

Cleaning. Scalping Kobe and common seeds is an aid in the final cleaning. A severa 1-

screen cleaner is usually needed to remove most weed seeds. Dodder is about the same

size and weight as the lespedeza seed and is difficult to screen out. A few commercial

cleaners now use the velvet-roller dodder mill which will usually reduce the dodder

content of hulled lots, but is ineffective with unhulled lots. Scarifying is not

necessary for good germination.
Sericea lespedeza, Lespedeza cunéala.

Flowering and fruiting branches; two

views of seed (5), and J4, views of pods

and seeds.

Stirub lespedezo, Lespedeza bicolor.

Flowering and fruiting broncties; two

views of seed,and enlarged view of

hilum(//).

Common lespedeza, Lespedeza slriala. Diogrommotic

sketcti of plant {/•), and fruiting broncties; S, views

of pods and seeds. C, Views of pods and seeds of

Kobe lespedeza, L.sthata.

Common lespedezo

Korean lespedeza, Lespedeza slipuloceo. Part of stem

In fruit; D, views of pods and seeds.

PLATE 16
-79-

Quality. Most unhulled Kobe seed lots have a purity of 96 percent, a 7-day germination

of 46 percent and a final germination of 65 percent plus 15 percent hard seed. There

are about 200,000 seeds in a pound of filled pods. Common lespedeza has 310,000 seeds

in a pound of filled pods. Kobe seeds are larger than those of common.

DEERVETCH (Lotus anericaniLS)

Adaptation and Use. A slender-stemmed loosely branched annual 1 to 3 feet high, with

3-foliate leaves and pink flowers. It grows in sandy soils, fr<îquently acid, and

becomes prominent in overgrazed oak openings, and on abandoned cultivated land. It

mixes well with short and mid grasses but is crowded out under the competition of tall

grasses. It appears to have some value for soil improvements for the low quality

Soils of the Cross Timbers of Oklahoma and Texas. On such soils it responds well to

phosphate fertilizers. It nodulates naturally when well established. **It has been

used locally to control erosion in California gullies and abandoned land." It is a cool

weather plant and is most in^ortant in the medium rainfall belts. It is rated well as

a wildlife plant, and in California is considered important as browse for the mule deer.

Likely Seed Areas. Open spots, partial clearings in second-growth post oak and blackjack oak and on abandoned cultivated land that is on its way back to a permanent cover,

and in the West Cross Timbers of Oklahoma and Texas. When abandoned Cultivated land

is protected from grazing this plant increases and produces fairly dense stands in

spots.

Managing for Seed. The seeds germinate in the fall or in late winter and early spring

during the warm periods. Flowering begins in April and continues into late May and

early June. Ripe pods and flowers may be found on the same plant. The majority of the

pods ripen the fore part of June and should be harvested then. The seeds are scattered

by the twisting and rupturing of the pods lengthwise. Occasionally the slender pods

are attacked by insects and the immature seeds eaten.

Production Under Cultivation. Not known.

Harvesting. The seeds should be collected in June. The time will depend on rainfall

and soil moisture. Where the areas are large enough, the seeds can be taken with a

Small combine. Small areas can be mowed, raked and cocked and threshed from the cocks

or hauled to the thresher. The seedhay may be cut, raked dán^, hauled to and spread

on the planting area.

Cleaning. Combined seed can be easily cleaned in a fanning mill.

Quality. The purity of samples received at the laboratory averaged 97 percent, the

7-day germination 23 percent and the 28-day germination 59 percent plus 35 percent hard

seed. The fresh seeds are not readily germinable. In nature the alternate freezing

and thawing during the winter conditions the seeds for early spring germination. A

pound of pure seed contains 104,000 seeds.

BIRDSFOOt DEERVETCH (Lotus corniculatus )

Adaptation and Use. Known commercially as birdsfoot trefoil. A long-lived upright

or spreading perennial legume with S-foliate leaves, a deep spreading root system and

in age possessing a large crown. Flowers yellow, tinged with red and borne in clusters

at the ends of the branches; pods slender, about an inch long, several-seeded, splitting lengthwise, the halves twisting and throwing the nearly round seeds. In the midwestern climate it stays green during the summer. It will grow in poor soil, is drought

resistant, high in protein* palatable, and salt tolerant. Recommended in the Northwest
-80-

and some sections of the Midwest as a valuable addition to hay and pasture lands not

suitable for alfalfa. Its disadvantages are: (1) Difficult to obtain seeds from, (2)

produces very little forage the first year, and (3) starts growth rather late in the

spring. Its rainfall and irrigation area limits in the Western Gulf Region are not

known. Field trials are now being made in all parts of the Region.

Variety artiens is is commonly used in the midwestern states. Variety tenuifolius is

salt and heat tolerant.

Likely Seed Areas. None in our region. Comnercial seed usually available. Much of

it comes from New York, Oregon and Washington.

Managing for Seed. The pods of birdsfoot deervetch ripen unevenly during a long

flowering period. First-year growth from seeds seldom produces flowers. When the

pods reach the rich brown color, they are ripe and shattering is a matter of exposure

to sunlight or heat. The shattered pods do not drop from the stems. To get maximum

yields, it is necessary to watch the plant carefully and start the harvest when most

of the pods are turning brown. The stems and leaves will still be green. In the

western states and in Europe much of the harvesting is done at night or early in the

morning while the dew is on and all parts of the plant are tough. Time of year to

harvest varies somewhat with the climate and rainfall. The suggested method of managing

the crop where rank growth is expected is to pasture or keep the plants clipped until

late April and then leave the growth for seed. In this Region most flcwers will develop

before the hottest days of summer, by early July perhaps, and the fruiting period will

be in July. In New York the best seed yields are from the first cutting. Yields depend

almost entirely on care in handling to prevent shattering. Potential yields in New York

from sample meadows, fertilized and poor, ranged from 673 to 112 pounds per acre.

Lodged stems always produce less seed than upright stems.

Production Under Cultivation. Average yields in seed-producing areas of New York,

Oregon and Washington are from 75 to 125 pounds per acre. Under favorable conditions

200 pounds may be harvested. '* In seedings harvested since 1939 at the Mt. Pleasant

Station (New York) yields ranging from 10 to 350 pounds per acre have been obtained."

Harvesting. Harvest time depends on the period when the most pods are turning brown.

A good method is to mow and windrow when the dew is on. Wilting in the swath will induce

some shattering. Raking with a side-delivery rake after wilting will assist shattering.

The windrowed material can be bunched while tough. The buck or sweep rake is useful

for this. The cocks can be cured in the field, or hauled to the thresher with the buck

rake, or stacked. A minimum of handling and exposure to the sun will reduce shattering.

Cont)ining from the windrow if the material can be cured sufficiently is the favorite

threshing method. Separation is best when using a 1/15-inch round-hole screen and

some wind. Broken stems and pieces of pods should be taken out by the straw carrier

and chaffer. The cylinder should be run at medium speeds.

Care of Green Seed. Because of the possible short period curing in the windrow and the

presence of nany partially developed pods and green seeds in the mixture it is advisable to spread and dry the seeds coming from the combine to prevent heating and molding.

Cleaning. If the seeds are trashy, much inert material and light grass seeds may be

removed by moderate wind in a fanning or several-screen mill. A sieve with 1/18-inch

round perforations is satisfactory for removing larger weed and crop seeds. A 1/20-

inch sieve is more satisfactory but removes some of the larger deervetch seeds. A

bottom sieve with 1/22-inch round-hole perforations or a 6 x 30 wire screen is most

useful. Screen brushes are helpful in keeping the screen openings free. Dodder is

difficult to remove from deervetch seeds.

Quality. The average purity of saniples received at the Regional laboratory is 96 percent, the 7-day germination 45 percent and the 28-day germination 53 percent plus 26
-81-

percent hard seed. It is believed the method of handling in the field affects germination. For example, in New York, a crop cut, wilted, cocked over night, stacked

for 18 hours to sweat, and then dried gave an average germination of 81 percent. A

similar crop cut and cured in the field for 10 days resulted in an average germination

of 7 percent. ** It is a common belief that combine harvesting results in a higher

germination and less hard seed than other methods.** The variety arvensis has 375,000

seeds in a pound, the variety tenuifolius has 400,000 in a pound. The known longevity

is 6 years.

WETLAND DEERVETCH (Lotus Ulig inos US }

Adaptation and Use. Often called big treioil. A long-lived spreading to upright

ye1low-flowered perennial, forming rhizomes. Short plants resemble alfalfa. Less

winter-hardy than birdsfoot deervetch. Grown in western Oregon and northern California.

Primarily used for pasture but is often cut for silage and hay. Grows well with tufted

grasses. Adapted to wet, acid soils and will withstand long periods of surface flooding

after the plants are well established. Limestone as fertilizer failed to give improvement in stands or in yields. Well adapted to sand dunes of Oregon. There are two

varieties - smooth (glabriusculibs) and hairy (villosus). Field trial plantings have

been made in this Region.

Likely Seed Areas. Commercial seed available in limited quantities. Under trial only

in this Region.

Managing for Seed. First year stands seldom flower. In Oregon the stands are managed

for seed by keeping the growth short either through grazing or by clipping until

May 15 or as late as June 1. In this Region grazing on excess growth probably should

end by late April. Flowering should take place in May and June and the seed harvested

in early July before the hottest weather of summer. Watch the plants closely to note

when the most pods are available. Be careful not to confuse the twisted, shattered

pods with the unshattered ones. As soon as the pods turn brown they are subject to

shattering. In most places seed formation depends on insects, especially honeybees

and bumblebees.

Yield Under Cultivation. On the John Jacob As tor Branch Experiment Station, Astoria,

Oregon seed yields for many years varied from 75 to 225 pounds , with an average of

127 pounds. Under favorable conditions yields may exceed 225 pounds.

Harvesting. The same conditions and methods apply as with birds foot deervetch. On

drier soils mow and windrow in one operation while the plants are tough. Thresh with

a combine. On wet lands the windrow is turned to facilitate drying. Use small-sized

windrow to obtain quick curing and allow for considerable green naterial to pass through

combine. With weather normal, combining begins the second day after mowing. Sometimes the windrows are shocked as soon as material is wilted, and after curing carried

to the thresher with a buck rake. Under certain conditions, i.e., in the absence of

lodging, it may be profitable to combine the standing stems.

Care of Green Seed. Unless well cured when threshed the seeds should be spread and

dried.

Cleaning. Ordinary cleaners are satisfactory.

Quality. The seeds are very small, almost round, olive-green, or some variation of

green, but without speckling, some turning brown with age, especially around the hilum.

There are 800,000 to 1,000,000 seeds in a pound of pure seed. European workers held

seeds of this deervetch for more than a decade and germinated a lot each year. The
-82-

percentages were 71, 73, 53, 45, 58, 44, 39, 24. 31 and 25. Levy in New Zealand reports

the average germination 71.7 percent plus 24 percent hard seed. Storage in this Region

probably should be limited to 2 years.

WHITE LUPINE (Lupinus a Ihus )

BLUE LUPINE (Lupinus angustifolius )

Adaptation and Use, f White lupine is a silky-white, branched, upright plant with

coarse stems; leaves digitate with 7 inversely lanceolate leaflets; flowers in rather

dense racemes which terminate the main axis at one or more nodes, the flower stalks

enlarging in fruit; pods 4 to 5 inches long, covered with silky hairs; seeds white,

nearly round from the side view but decidedly flattened and with sides dented.

Blue lupine is more slender in every respect, leafier and with narrower leaflets;

the pods are smaller; the seeds are smaller, plump and slightly longer than wide.

The principal uses for both lupines are cover crops and green manure. They are adapted

to acid sandy soils but are doing well in nearly neutral sandy soils. When properly

inoculated and fertilized they are suitable for light sandy soils. Not hardy in the

northern two-thirds of the Region. Best adapted to the southern part of the Coastal

Plain, Coastal Prairie and the eastern part of the Rio Grande Plain. At Minden, Louisiana

both species have been too sensitive to cold to justify widespread planting. Efforts

are being made to select cold-resistant strains.

Likely Seed Areas. None established. Produced only under cultivation.

Managing for Seed. Larger yields of seed are made on early rather than late plantings;

October seedings usually outyield December seedings. On the northern fringe of iidgption

the seedings should be in September and early October. Early spring seedings are

possible if the moisture is adequate in late spring to keep the plants growing. Large

acreages for seed production are planted on different dates to extend the harvest period

and allow for continuous combining. Best yields are obtained from row plantings. In

early stages the plants often suffer from damping-off diseases, but the records show

such losses do not increase where plantings are repeated annually. Rabbits often cut

the young plants off near the ground, eat the stems and leave the foliage. Flowering

begins in eai^ly Ai^ril aiad continues as new growth develops into early June. Early fall

seedings mature by late May or early June. The lower leaves fall off as the pods

mature. During some years rapid changes in atmospheric humidity induce early shattering.

For proper combining most of the seeds are allowed to become fairly ripe. It is best

to start the combine before shattering begins. When cut, cured and threshed the harvest

begins several days earlier.

Harvesting. Most lupine seeds are harvested with combines. The fai^ly mature pods

shell easily. The amount of material taken into the machiiie should be watched carefully. Cylinder speeds of 11 CO to 1200 RIM on green material are probably right to

start. When the pods are dry it may be necessary to reduce the cylinder speed to 85 C

RPM or less. The cylinder spacing of 3/8 to 1/2 inch is necessary for both lupines.

Set the chaffer, shoe sieve two-thirds open and wind valves wide open or two-thifds

open. For the blue lupine a lower sieve of about 3/8-inch opening may be used but is

not necessary to obtain fairly clean seed.

The seed crop can be cut with a mower while the plants are danp and bunched almost

immediately. Threshing is done with an ordinary thresher or combine. Farmers who grow

small patches, pull the plants when the seeds are fully ripe and flail them over stretched

woven wire or on hard ground.

Care of Green Seed. Immediately after harvest, lupine seeds contain a good deal of

moisture which must be reduced as quickly as possible to insure good germination. If
WeHond deervetch, Lotus uliginosus. Flowering

branch,and two views of seed.

Birdsfoof deervetch (trefoil), Lotus corniculatus.

Flowering and fruiting brancties, and two views

of seed.

Oeervetcti, Lotus amtricanus. Flowering

and fruiting bronches; two views of seed.

White lupine, Lupinas albus. Flowering branch, mature

pod.and two views of seed.

PLATE 17
-83-

green seeds are present in the lot do not sack. Spread 2 to 3 inches deep on dry floors

or on raised platforms where the air can be circulated and stir until all danger of

heating is over. Through experience growers have learned that lupine seeds dried slowly

in a mass have a low germination even though they did not heat appreciably or discolor.

Rather rapid artificial drying with heat is a satisfactory method of curing. In trials

at the Georgia Experiment Station lupine seeds were dried from 17.3 percent moisture to

13 percent, using 3 pounds of calcium chloride for 100 pounds of seed. The chloride

cost approximately 3 cents a pound. The seeds were placed in a tight-walled bin with

a screened bottom. The air was dried by drawing it over brine from the chloride then

over the flakes of the chloride and from there it was forced through the seeds with a

fan. This method of drying avoids risk from fire and the danger of injury to germination

from overheating.

Cleaning. The fanning mill will easily remove all trash from lupine seeds.

Quality. Properly cured white lupine seeds are nearly white or have a creamy tinge,

much flattened, 6/16 inch wide and 7/16 inch long. The purity is 99 percent, the 7-day

germination 7 0 percent and the final, germination 85 to 90 percent. The number per pound

varies from 900 to 1500.

A very short dormant period is common in many lots. They should be planted by the

second fall after harvest and not carried over another year. However, some lots have

germinated 100 percent after 5 years storage and ordinarily do not contain any hard

seeds. The maximum storage period has not been determined.

Blue lupine seeds are smaller, 4/16 inch wide and 5/16 inch long, roundish or slightly

angled and with mottled gray-tan coat. In size and shape they resemble small navy beans.

The purity is 97 to 99 percent, the 7-day germination at the laboratory 79 percent plus

1 percent hard seed, although the standard germination is listed at 9 0 percent. Usually

some hard seeds are present in every lot. The number per pound varies from 2500 to

3 000.

The seeds of both species contain a higher percentage of alkaloids than the other parts

of the plant, and are poisonous to livestock. **Nonalkaloid strains liave recently been

developed in blue, white and yellow lupines, but in the blue lupine these strains have

not been fully stabilized.*'

SPOTTED BURCLOVER (Medicago arabica)

Adaptation and Use. Smooth winter annual with spreading stems, heavily spotted leaflets, toothed, not cleft, stipules and spiny pods with 4 coils. Several named varieties

are: Southern spotted, early giant and manganese. The early giant form is noted for

rapid and early growth and earlier seed production. Manganese burclover is known for

its cold resistance and recognized by the large maroon spots on the leaflets. The

species and its varieties are well adapted to the higher rainfall and acid soils areas

of the Region. They will grow on alkaline soils farther west. They are considered

more resistant to cold than California burclover. Used principally for green manure

and grazing.

Likely Seed Areas. Vacant lots, mowed or grazed waste areas, and grazed bottomlands,

river terraces and inland pastures.

Managing for Seed. Same as California burclover.

Harvesting. Same as California burclover.

Care of Green Seed. Same as California burclover.

Cleaning and Processing. Same as California burclover.
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Quality. Most spotted burclover is planted in the bur. The seeds are smaller than

those of California burclover and generally there airé more in a bur. As burs, the purity

rähiges from 63 to 80 ¡percent, the 7-day jgermihation is low - 13 i^erCêtit plus 76 perCent

hard seed. The poor 7-day germination Should always be considered when planting the

burs for quick sprouting. the number f>èi* pound íá ^5,000. The known longevity is

3 yëar^.

CALIFORNIA BURCLOvfek (Ñedicago hispida)

Adaptation and Use. Nearly Smooth Winter annual legume with spreading stems. One form

has a very small purple spot at the baSe of each leaflet; others are without Spots on

the leaflets. The stipules are deeply cleft. The podS, usually in clusters, have

3 distinct coils, JPlànts with spin^eleSs ï^bdS occur fre<iuèritly and Should be preferred

in the sheep and goat sections. This burclover was long ago introduced into our Éegion.

It has become naturalized in the southern half but is restricted to waste places,

bottomlands and well watered pastures. it is adapted to soils alkaline in reaction

and is not spreading to any extent to thé acid Soils of high rainfall areas.

Used for Soil iifiprovement and grazing.

Likely Seed Areas. Vacant lots arid roadsides where the tall grasses are kept short;

also bottoîhlâhd fiUid river tèk-ràce pastures that are closely grazed durinjg the Winter,

from Southern Oklahoma through central to Sollt hé l-n and Western TékâS.

Managing for Seed. A dry fall and dry early winter sometimes ¡prevent germination of

the hard seeds. Volunteering is, therefore, erratic. When the stand is fairly uniform

by the ¡first of April, one can obtain án idea of stem and flower production. By the

middle or last of May, total ^production can be estimated. In jnk)St years. Setting of

Seed in the pod is not a problem. The burs fa^l âfteîr they hâve matured and dried.

In June and July when the stems are dry, they cart be handled and easily detached from

the roots for hand harvesting or ràkin]g, thé burs usually contain 3 to 6 seeds.

Production Under Cultivation. One hundred to 200 büshels of burs per acre, or 3 0C

to 8 00 pounds of seed. Occasionally the total number óí burs produced is so low as

not to justify harvesting.

Harvesting. Most burclover seed is harvested and ke]pt in the bur. There are several

methods of obtaining the burs. (1) Éaking the vines off with à horse rake or garden

rake and then raking or Sweeping the feui-iâ in piles. ïhiS works well where green weeds

do not interfere with raking. (2) lil<3(*^ing and ráking off the vines, then using a suction

machine to pick tip the burs. One SuCtioh inachirtè di*á^n by a medium-sized tractor consists of a spout 26 X 7 inches that ¡runs on â Wooden slide on the ground and a 5!2-inch

gin fan that is run by the power take-ofÍF of the tractor. During the Week of June 2 0,

1949, this machiníé sucked up enough material in 3 hours to clean out 741 pounds of

clean seed (not/burs). VariauS types of suction ihachines hâve been built. Such machines

work best when thé surface of the ground is ùhiîôrtn and free of trash, weeds. Sticks,

and rocks.

Burclovei may be h^^ifvested by mowing the plants when about a fourth of the burs are

fully ripe and beginning to drop, leaving the mowed material in the Swath and threshing

with a slow-moving combine equipped with pickup tines. By using a special screen beneath

the shoe sieve^ clean seeds can be oht'ainedi. The cylinder is run at top speed, around

1600 RPM,and the cylinder spacing set at 1/8 inch. Any burs not broken up are taken

back through the tailing auger and elevator arid again run through the cylinder. The

most rapid ;t]ethod of harvesting is to allow the burS arid hulled seeds to fall through

the chaffer and shoe sieve and be taken directly to the grain bin. When this is done,

the cylinder spacing is 3/8 inch and the cylinder speed reduced to merely knock the

burs off the stems.
Blue lupine, Lupinus ongustifolius. Flovyering ond fruiting branch,and mature pod; two views of seeds.

Spotted burclover, Medicago arabica.

Fruiting branch; leaf and stipule

(5); normal pod (bur) ond two views

of a section of the ridge of the bur,

back (o),and profile(i); view of four

seeds.

Colifornia burclover, Medicago hispida. Fruiting branch; leaf and stipule (5); two views

of spineless bur and section of the ridge of bur; side view of normal bur and views

of a section of the ridge, bock (<7), and profile (A); view of four seeds. PLATE 18
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Care of Green Seed. Dry burs can be raked into piles without danger of heating. Seed

combined from the swath or windrow will not need curing before final sacking.

Cleaning and Processing. Considerable burclover is sold in the burs. To obtain clean

seeds, the burs are hammermilled using a 1/8-inch screen and a speed of approximately

2200 RPM, and then run through the cleaner to remove the pieces of burs.

Quality. laboratory analyses show the average sample of burs to be 63 percent pure,

and to have a 7-day germination of 20 percent plus 71 percent hard seed. There are

38,000 burs in a pound of pure burs. Seed satiples have a purity average of 95 percent,

a 7-clay germination of 48 percent and a final germination of 80 percent plus 12 percent

hard seed. Some of these samples probably consisted of scarified seeds. There are

139,000 seeds in a pound of pure seed. A bushel of burs contains from 2 to 4 pounds of

seed. The longevity of the seeds is at least 3 years. For ready germination, the seeds

should be scarified, where scarification by the hammer mill is not evident.

BLACK MEDIC (Medicado lupulina )

Adaptation and Use. Black medic, also called hop medic, blackseed hopclover, and black

trefoil, is a spreading, hairy annual with 4-angled stems, mucronate leaflets, toothed

stipules, rather dense clusters of small yellow flowers and dense or loose clusters of

black, spiral pods. Jt is widely naturalized and in local areas is grown for pasture

and seed. There appear to be annual and perennial forms. It is best adapted to blacklands and old terrace and bottomland soils and requires high lime and phosphate for

maximum growth. Phosphate applications in southeastern Oklahoma have consistently

increased seed yields. It is most suitable in legume-grass pastures, but probably

not in areas where annual rainfall is below 32 inches.

Likely Seed Areas. pastures on farms. Spread to waste places and roadsides is slow

because of natural competition. In such sites, the plants are usually too scattered to

harvest seeds.

Managing for Seed. Grazing improves the stem production of black medic on heavy soils

by reducing the shade of associated grasses and opening up the turf. In southeastern

Oklahoma, it is necessary to remove livestock by April 10 for highest seed yields. If

weeds are competing, mowing is advisable after the stock are removed , to give uniform

conditions for harvest. The flowers open early on the lower part of the plant and

usually mature their pods before the main crop is ready. Leaf rust sometimes reduces

growth and seed yields.

Production Under Cultivation. Yields vary widely from a few pounds to 300 pounds

per acre.

Harvesting. The harvest season usually is short. The optimum time is from June 1

to 10. As worked out in southeastern Oklahoma, the best method of harvesting is to

mow when the stems are dairp, using a sickle bar no longer than the width of the pickup

attachment on the combine. Combine from the swath after 24 to 48 hours drying. Any

disturbance, such as raking or windrowing, will produce excessive shattering. The

cylinder-concave spacing is close, approximately 1/8 inch; the cylinder speed high,

1500 to 1800 RPM. Use enough air to keep chaff slightly lifted from the lower screen

and away from the seed (pods and seeds). It is not necessary to break the pods and

release the seeds while combining, as this can be done in a scarifier or hammer mill.

Seedhay of black medic can be cut and windrowed in one operation and combined from

the windrow. The windrowing should be done while the material is damp and tough to

reduce the amount of shattering.

Care of Green Seeds. Seeds from the combine contain a good many green pods and soft

seeds which cannot be left in sacks more than a few hours. Spread out and stir until

thoroughly dry.

948413 0—51 10
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Cleaning and Processing. To remove hulls from the seeds, scarify in a hammer mill,

using cylinder speed of about 1500 RF*M and a 1/8-inch round-hole screen. Keep enough

pod material in the mill to prevent cracking of the seed coats. Usually the hammer

mill gives enough scarification for good germination. Trial runs and examinations will

determine this. One cleaning in a fanning mill or 3-screen mill will ordinarily produce

a marketable lot of seed. Storage should be away from rats and mice.

Quality. The average purity of this small-seeded legume is 94 percent, the 7-day

germination 56 percent, and the final germination 58 percent plus 11 percent hard seed.

The seeds germinate readily. There are 302,000 in a pound of pure seed. The known

longevity is 5 years, but seeds of this age should always be tested for vitality before

planting. There is a market for good seeds in this Region.

BUTTON MEDIC (Medicago orbicular is )

Adaptation and Use. Often called button clover. It resembles snail medic (snail

clover). An annual, moderately leafy legume with decumbent or trailing stems, when

grown in open stands, that reach a length of 36 inches. The leaflets are serrate on

the margin and in that and shape resemble those of several clovers. The stipules have

the same shape as those of burclover, but are more deeply cleft. The flowers are in

small clusters and yellow. The veiny, narrow-ridged pod consists of 3 or more much

compressed coils.

Button medic was introduced into this country in 1899. It gained in favor in California,

was tested throughout the southern states, but never came into good use, except in

local areas in Texas and as a forage plant in Tennessee. It is well established in

and around many towns in central Texas and a few in southern Oklahoma. It seems to be

naturally adapting itself in the medium rainfall part of the Region and where the soils

are alkaline. It prefers shallow limestone soils where the grasses seldom form a

complete cover.

Properly managed it could become an important pasture plant. In the sheep and goat

sections it should be increased in place of the spiny-podded burclovers, as the pods

do not cling to the wool and mohair and cause dockage.

Likely Seed Areas. Along railroads, on vacant lots in towns of central Texas. It

has not beconie acclimated to any extent in southern Oklahoma.

Managing for Seed. The pods of button medic ripen in June and drop from the green

vines shortly after drying. The maturity is not uniform. The partially ripe pods are

eaten by grazing animals. Production will depend upon proper deferment from grazing.

Where grown alone or in a mixture the animals should be removed by the first of May

or sooner to allow regrowth and plenty of flowers to develop.

Production Under Cultivation. Tests in California indicate that seed yields of button

medic are twice those of California burclover. There the yields ranged from 790 to 1160

pounds per acre under partial irrigation. Seeds have been harvested in this Region

but production figures are not available. Yields should be 300 pounds per acre on good

soil.

Harvesting. One way to gather the seed is to rake away the vines and sweep the pods

in piles. The pods can be collected with suction machines.

Care of Green Seed. Pods cured and dried on the ground can be sacked.

Cleaning. Seed material gathered with brooms or with suction machines is very trashy

and contains a good deal of dirt, gravel and other foreign imtter. The pods are light.

When dumped in a tank or running water they can be skimmed off with a screen leaving
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the bulk of the trash and all the gravel. The pods then can be hamnermilléd or threshed

With â combine or clover huiler. Thé smooth Seeds are easily sejparâted from the

hammermiiled material in a fanning mill.

Quality. Laboratory tests show the average purity of the seed lots to be 90 to 98

percent, the 7-day germination 47 percent and the final germination 50 percent plus

41 percent hard seed. The total number viable is 90 percent. There are from 120,000

to 150,000 in a pound of pure seed. The seeds are slightly smaller than seeds of

Crimson clover. The longevity period is listed at 3 years. Storage in the southern

states should be limited to 3 years.

ALFALFA (U&àicago sativa)

Adaptation and Use. A deep-rooted, leafy perennial, bearing violet-blue, or mixed

yellow and violet-blue upright flowers in loose clusters at the ends of branches and

coiled pods with 2 to 3 spirals. In Europe it generally is known as lucerne. One of

the most important forage crops in the United States. Used for soil conservation and

soil improvennent. It is widely distributed. With ne# adaptations and varieties increasing

in number. Southwest common and inproved common, such as buffalo (a variety resistant

to bacterial wilt) are widely adapted winter-h&rdy varieties, and like the Grimm variety,

are suitable for thé extreme northern portion of the Region. Hairy Peruvian, low in

cold-resistance but very drought-resistant, is adapted to thé southern part of the

Region, ifertile bottom terrace and upland soils well drairted, fine and medium in texture

and with favorable moisture relationships are most suitable for alfalfa. It should not

be planted in soils containing the cotton root-rot fungus. Suitable for all parts of

the Region where moisture is sufficient for proper growth except the highly saline or

alkali soils.

Likely Seed Areas. None outside of cultivated fields. Scattered plants may be found

along highways.

Managing for Seed. The crop that develops during the hottest part of the summer generally matures the most seeds. In this Region it may be either the second or third

cutting. In the seed-producing areas of CÄclahoma and northwest quarter of Texas the

second crop is cut for seed. But in some localities where the concern is not for a

maximum seed yield, the third or fourth cutting is for seed. Over a wide range of conditions, slow uniform growth and reduced stem stands usually produce more seeds than

rank growth and thick stands. Pasturing the stand until early summer, then clipping

to even the growth, often produce more seeds than when the first crop is mowed for hay.

Moisture conditions determine which crop is best for seed. Ideal conditions prevail

when there is good subsoil moisture and a rain at or near the time the alfalfa is cut

for hay with no more moisture until after the seeds are harvested. Good rains during

the period of rapid growth induces too dense a stand and fewer blooms. Be sure the

hay cutting just ahead of the seed crop is taken before the Shoots near and on the

crown reach sickle height.

Apply irrigation water carefully. Too much water stimulates rank growth, disturbs

the moisture balance on the stigma and in the atmosphere surrounding the stigma and

prevents fertilization. This causes the flowers to drop. Too little water may induce

browning of the blossoms. Height of water table, kind of soil and rate of evaporation

are conditions that must be Considered in the amount of water applied. Conditions that

favor slow and continuous growth generally favor seed set.

Insects are a problem and an aid in seed production. Where sucking if3^^us bugs are

common in seed-producing communities, control is possible by thoroughly cleaning up

alfalfa fields and weed hosts along the borders and waste places in the winter. The

seed crop is started by cutting the first crop of alfalfa at the same time in all
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fields. This prevents the bugs from moving back and forth to fields that are in different

stages of grcmrth and starves them out. A spring-tooth harrowing also is recomnended

late in the fall, early in spring and after each crop is harvested to help control

these bugs.

Most alfalfa flonrers require tripping by good-sized insects for a good seed set. Tripping

forces the stigma and anthers against the standard, which ruptures the anthers and

scatters the pollen. Honeybees after nectar do not trip many flowers. They do increase

seed set through cross-pollination while gathering pollen.

Alfalfa responds to fertilizers. An application of 150 to 250 pounds of 0-20-0 from

October to February has increased seed production in northwestern Texas.

One farmer in northwestern Texas has successfully produced seeds and controlled some

insects by using a mulch of the first spring cutting. He combined the seeds in July

and left the straw on the ground without further treatment in the fall. In early February

he burned the field. The fire consumed only the tops of the standing plants and some

of the loose straw. With this treatment the harvest period varies from July 15 to

September 15.

Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields average about 350 pounds per acre. The

range is from 200 to 1000 pounds.

Harvesting. Several methods of harvesting are used. Mowing and windrowing usually

begins when about three-fourths of the pods are brown. To avoid shattering mow while

the dew is on and the pods damp. The windrcswer is generally attached to the mower.

A side-delivery rake can be used immediately after mowing. Allow the plants to dry

thoroughly. Combine from the windrow after dew is gone. Use the tine pickup attachment. Slow the cylinder speed to approximately 1000 RPM or slower if stems are brittle.

Set cylinder close to concaves. Clover concaves are sometimes used. Use what air is

necessary. The amount will depend on whether seeds are fully cleaned or rough-cleaned

by removal of lower screen in the shoe. Some operators take out all bottom screens

and reduce the wind to save all the seed and depend on recleaning to remove the trash.

For advanced cleaning an alfalfa screen with 10 openings per inch is used below the

adjustable shoe sieve in some machines, or is inserted in place of the removable shoe

sieve in others.

When combining standing material, it may be necessary to set the fine-mesh screen

sloping toward the back to prevent clogging. Windrow-combining should be conpleted

before rain falls, as alternate wetting and drying causes some seeds to pop out of the

pods. Direct combining is practicable. Allow most of the pods to ripen. Wait until

dew is off the plants. Lower the sickle to obtain the seed-bearing parts of the plants.

Keep cylinder speed low enough to knock out the seeds with fairly close cylinder spacing.

Pull combine at a speed to keep a thin layer of straw on the racks. This also can be

done by adjusting width of swath. The toughness of the stems and leaves often causes

the seeds to stick to the straw when it lies thick on the racks. Use some air to keep

green pieces of leaves moving off the chaffer and adjustable shoe sieve, to prevent

clogging of the latter and the alfalfa sieve.

Occasionally the wilted windrowed material is piled in small cocks to cure. It is

desirable to thresh as soon as possible. If threshing is delayed the cocks can be

stacked.

Care of Green Seed. When cured in the windrow the seeds can be sacked at the imchine.

When combined direct, spread the seeds out under cover on a wooden floor or canvas to

a depth not to exceed 2 inches and stir 5 or 6 times daily to keep them cool. Where

curing space is not available for such curing, use the sack method. Fill porous sacks

about one-third full, lay them flat and turn every 3 or 4 hours, shaking the sacks in

turning. An air blast across the curing floor is always helpful in moving the moist

air away from the seeds. All curing should be under cover, as direct sunlight will

discolor the seeds.
Button medic, Medicogo orbicularis. Fruiting branch, side view of coiled pod {P),

two views of seed, and pair of stipules(S).

Block medic, Medicago lupulina. Fruiting

branct); leaf, stipules and section of ttie

stem; pod and ttiree views of seed.

Hubom sweetclover,

Melilotas alba onnua.

Two views of seed.

V. '<y •

Alfalfa, Virf/coffO sativa. Flowering and

fruiting branch and pod ; view of five

seeds.

White sweetclover, Mtlilotus alba. Flowering

bronch ; mature pod in colyx, and two views

of seed.

PLATE 19
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Çleaning. Any fanning mill will clean alfalfa seeds, but usually two runs are necessary.

A spiral-screen cleaner, or one used especially for alfalfa, is considered best for

proper separation of shrunken seeds from pluinp seeds. Coinbined seeds properly cured can

be cleaned in the stationary combine. The seeds are usually sacked without scarifying.

Store in a dry, cool place free of rodents.

Quality. High quality alfalfa seeds should have a purity of 98 percent, a cqnnbined

germination and hard seed percentage of 90 and weighs 60 pounds to the bushel. At the

San Antonio Laboratory the average 7-day germination is 69 percent plus 14 percent hard

seed. When properly stored the seeds retain their viability for a nuQiber of yenrs.

Stored at ordinary room temperature in Denmark, yearly germinations for 7 years were

as follows; 91 + 8, 88 -H 7, 93 -1-3, 84-1- 3. 79 4-3. 65 -f 3, and 61 - - 2. Grimm alfalfa

seeds scarified by several methods and then stored 14 years in New Jersey gave the

following germinations: Untreated, 23 percent plus 1 percent hard seeds; dry heat for

two hours at 60° C. , 17.2 percent; sandpaper, 0.8 percent, and sulfuric acid, O.Q

percent. In this Region, for best results the seeds probably should not be stored

longer than 5 years. There are 200,000 to 225,000 seeds in a pound of pure seed.

HUBAM SWEETCLOVER (Meliotus alba annua)

Adaptation and Use. Hubam sweetclover, also called Hubam or Hubamclover, is a tall,

widely branched, white blossom annual with ^wsll-deve loped tap roots and numerous lateral

roots. Dormant stem buds seldom develop above the crown. The stems are coarse unless

closely spaced. This crop is especially adapted to heavy, alkaline soils. In this

Region, it is planted mostly in the Blackland, Coastal and Grand prairies and the

Rolling Red Plains, in the rainfall belt between 25 to 38 inches. Its principal uses

are for soil conservation, soil improvement, hay, pasture, and seed. Often seeded in

Johnsongrass fields for mixed pasture, or used for hay and seed in a rotation. It

becomes a volunteer crop in Johnsongrass.

Likely Seed Areas. Seeds are produced only on cultivated land. The plant has spread

to disturbed places along roads but is of no importance there.

Managing for Seed. When moisture is adequate as it usually is during April, May and

June, stem height reaches 6 or 7 feet. The average is 5 feet. Flowers appear in late

May, and the fruits mature in July. Seed development is not uniform due to the long

flowering period. Insects anfl diseases ordinarily do not interfere with proper seed

development. Seed yields increase when honeybees are abundant in the crop during the

flowering period.

Production Under Cultivation. Experimental trials at the Texas Research Foundation,

Renner, Texas in 1947 showed that where all the seeds were harvested by hand the yield

was as high as 874 pounds per /acre; windrowed or placed in a swath with a binder and

threshed, 690 pounds; apd combined from mature standing plants, 635 pounds. When

grown with Johnsongrass and grazed, with the harvest delayed until the plants are

nearly dead, the shattering is heavy and the yield seldom exceeds 200 pounds per acre.

Harvesting. Hubam seeds are harvested in several ways. Swathing (often called windrowing), leaving a 12- to 18-inch stubble, is now considered most economical. The

platform swather and the grain binder, minus the knotting attachments and bundle carrier,

are used. The factory-made platform swather cuts the material 12 to 18 inches high,

lays it on the platform, carries it to the end of the machine, and crops it in an

even swath on the high stubble. Shattering is at a minimum. The binder does the same

thing through two upper canvases, but shatters more seed.

Windrowing is completed in one operation with the mower and attached windrowing tines,

or in two operations with a mower and side-delivery rake. It rolls the stems without
-90-

much shattering. But too many coarse and bare stems are left, which make combining

difficult. The rows also are subject to compaction by rain and rolling by wind on the

short stubble.

Where possible, swathing and windrowing should be done at night or when the steins are

tough, and when about two-thirds of the seeds «re hard and the pods brown. It must be

done when moisture is present to prevent shattering. A simple method to determine

starting tine is by stripping the pods by hand. When they strip easily, moisture is

insufficient; when they cling to the stem, moisture is sufficient to begin.

Cutting can be carried on immediately after light rains, as soon as the tractor can be

operated on the ground. The size of the combine should be known before swathing

starts. The width of swath should not exceed the width of the combine reel by more

than 2 feet; for exanple, a 7>foot swath for a 5-foot coni:>ine. For the best combining,

the cut material should remain in the swath or windrow not fewer than 4 sunny days. No

pickup attachment is needed for swath-combining but is desirable for windrow-combining.

Many operators set the cooibine to turn out only clean or hulled seeds. This is not

necessary and is apt to crack some seeds. Adjust cylinder speed to 15Q0 to 1600 RPM.

Space cylinder and concave 1/4 to 1/3 inch. Set chaffer to take out the straw. Use

enough wind to lift chaff off the lower sieve and keep the coarser chaff from dropping

through the chaffer. This will produce a mixture of hulled and unhulled seeds.

Combining the standing plants is a method of harvesting frequently used. To eliminate as nany green stems and green pods as possible start the machine when about 90

percent of the pods and seeds are dead ripe. This is nearly always preceded by some

shattering of the pods.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds cured in and confined from the swath or windrow can be sacked

to await cleaning and processing, but should not be piled. Seeds connbined from standing

plants contain a fair percent of green pods and moisture. Spread such material on a

wooden floor to a depth not to exceed 6 inches and stir at 3-hour intervals for 2 to

3 days, or until no apparent moisture remains. Heating and molding invites discoloration

and loss of viability.

Cleaning and Processing. Hubam seeds should be cleaned withaNo. 14 screen. The use

of a No. 15 screen results in a loss of some large plump seeds. Most cleaning plants

handling Hubam are equipped with scarifiers. The seeds can be hulled and scarified in

the same operation. Where they are to be planted locally without a germination test,

the cleaning and scarifying can be put off until near planting time. Commercial and

local seeds should be cleaned and scarified by 2 months after harvest to allow time

to complete purity and germination tests prior to fall planting time.

Quality. The average purity of laboratory sanples is 95 percent, the average germination less than 50 percent, with a high percent of hard seed. Scarifying increases

the germination to 70 or 80 percent and decreases the percent of hard seed. Holding

the seed in storage more than 3 years is not a good practice.

ANNUAL YELLOW SWEETCLOVER (Melilotus indica )

Adaptation and Use. A winter annual of the milder parts of the Region. Fine-stemmed

to 3 feet tall; flcwers yellow, 2 to 2.5 mn long, about half the size of the biennial

sweetcloVers; pods wrinkled, about 2 mm long and about two-thirds the size of the

biennial yellow sweetclover. Long introduced and adapted to the southern half of the

Region. The naturalized range is being gradually extended northward. Plants now may

be found along railroads and highways north of Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas and in

northern Louisiana. Adapted to a wide range of soils when properly inoculated, including

those on the acid side. Used for soil improvement, cover crop in orchards and cotton

fields, in conservation cropping systems with sugarcane, and winter grazing on grassland.
-91-

It has done well as a soil in^roving crop in the Red River Valley of Louisiana. It

is the earliest of the sweetclovers , in South Texas often making 6 incties of growth by

mid-winter when moisture is available. The plants are fairly resistant to disease.

Likely Seed Areas. Railroads and vacant lots often have extensive stands. Northern

forms should be used and propagated to extend the range.

Managing for Seed. With enough moisture the germination occurs in late Septennber and

October in South Texas. Growth is uninterrupted by cold in that part of the state.

Flowers begin to appear early in March and the pods mature by the middle or last of

April in the vicinity of San Antonio. Harvest begins after some of the earliest pods

fall and when the potential yield is greatest. Large yields and quality seed depend

on moisture being available in April during the heavy blossoming and fruiting period.

Production Under Cultivation. Yields as large as 400 pounds per acre have been taken;

the average is probably 175 pounds.

Harvesting. The crop can be handled with a combine when most pods are brown and before

a great amount of shattering occurs. Usually most of the leaves have fallen at this

period. No particular adjustments are necessary. The reel is set to bend the plants

over the draper before the sickle hits the stems in order to catch shattered pods.

Set speed of cylinder at 1100 to 1200 RPM and spacing at 1/4 inch, open chaffer and

shoe sieve one-third, return tailings to cylinder, set air valves one-third open, use

a 1/12-inch round-hole sieve below shoe sieve for final cleaning. In case a scarifier

or hammer mill is to be used for final cleaning the crop need not be cleaned close

in the combine.

The crop can be bound, shocked and threshed with a combine or thresher. The binding

should be started a week ahead of the combine period, or when about 10 percent of the

pods are ripe.

Dead ripe seed can be stripped with a bluegrass stripper and the resulting material

run over a scalper and then through the hammer mill and finally the cleaner.

As with Hubam sweetclover the crop can be placed in a swath on the high-cut stubble

and combined by running pickup guards under the swath.

Care of Green Seeds. Seed from the combine should be dried before sacking. Scalping

will help dry the seed.

Cleaning. Rough-combined seeds can either be scarified and screened or hammermilled

and screened. Seed uniformly threshed can be cleaned in the fanning mill.

Quality. Seeds of this species resennble those of several other sweetclovers but are

smaller in size. Clean samples average 95 to 98 percent purity, have a 7-day germination of 48 plus 31 percent hard seed. The average pure, live seed reaches 90 percent.

The average Texas samples (354,000 to a pound) have smaller seeds than samples from

other Regions (275,000 to a pound). The known longevity is 9 years. As a tule the

seeds should not be stored longer than 3 years before planting.

MADRID SWBETCLOVER (Melilotus officinalis varj

Adaptation and Use. Madrid sweetclover, is a yellow blossom biennial with a vigorous

root system. When planted in the spring the plants develop a strong, leafy crown the

first year and many stems, leaves and flowers the second spring. It differs from ordinary

yellow sweetclover in its leafiness and fine stems. Only in a dense stand are the

differences discernible. It is becoming an important soil-conserving, soil-improving,

hay, and pasture crop through the Grand Prairie, Rolling Red Plains and Reddish Prairies
-92-

of Oklahoma and Texas and the Blackland Prairie and Edwards Plateau of Texas. It

produces unusually well both for pasture and hay when seeded with small grains and

Johnsongtass.

Likely Seed Areas. At least two associations in the Region are selling pure seeds.

Many farmers are growing seeds for local planting.

Managing for Seed. Spring planting develops flowers and fruit the second year about

a month ahead of Hubam sweetclover. Except for some loss from cotton root rot, the

crop produces plenty of seeds when the rainfall is sufficient to bring out stems and

flowers. No grazing of second-year grcwth is advised if satisfactory seed yields and

stem residue are desired. Care must be used to keep this crop a uniform strain. It

should not be planted for seed near other strains of yellow sweetclover. It will not

cross with white sweetclover or its strains.

Production Under Cultivation. Seedings in 3-foot and 40-inch rows at 3 pounds per acre

have yielded over 400 pounds of clean seed per acre and provided considerable grazing.

Harvesting. About the same as for Hubam sweetclover. One community obtains higher

seed yields by using the binder and curing the bundles where they fall instead of

shocking. When threshing the bundles, be sure to use a truck or wagon that has a

tight bottom or is canvas-covered, to save seeds that shatter while vehicle is in

motion.

Care of Green Seed. Same as for Hubam sweetclover.

Cleaning and Processing. Same as for Hubam sweetclover.

Quality. Most seeds on the market are high in quality. Laboratory reports show the

average sample to be 99 percent pure, to have an 86 percent germination in 7 days and

315,000 seeds in a pound. The seeds are on the average smaller than those of yellow

sweetclover. The longevity is not known, but wél 1-ttatured and properly cured seeds

should keep their viability 3 years. The demand for high-quality seeds remains good.

AUSTRIAN PEA (pisum sativuM arvense)

Adaptation and Use. Annual, winter-hardy, tendril-bearing legume With thick paired

leaflets, leaflike stipules as in Ldthyrtis, and large green pods. Dixie-wonder pea

is a southern adapted strain. Austrian pea is adapted to all parts of the Ëegiôn in

the high rainfall belt and is now being planted in the Rolling and High Plains in the

2 0- to 25-inch rainfall belt. It grows well on all soils except the innperfe<*tly and

slowly drained types. It generally is used for green manure, winter cover and soil

improvement.

Likely Seed Areas. Most seeds are grown in the Pacific Northwest. Some seed produced

in this Region and there is an opportunity for more to be harvested.

Managing for Seed. Insects and diseases are important factors in seed production in

the South. Weevil damage may be serious. Dusting with DDT will control the insect.

Mildew is a serious disease. It often attacks and destroys a field of peas in a week

or 10 days, and is particularly destructive when the vines are heavy and matted. Seed

growers overcome the seriousness of mildew to some extent by planting about half the

number of seeds used for a cover crop, by planting the rows next to rows of old cotton

stalks, and by seeding with a companion crop, as barley, rye, wheat, or oats. Barley,

because of the way and time it matures, is the best coonpanion crop for northeastern

Arkansas.
Yellow sweetclover, UeHlolus officinalis. Leaf and

stipules, enlarged flower; pod with calyx ottoctied, and two views of seed. (See Madrid

sweetclover. )

Annual yellow sweetclover. Melilotas indica.

Flowering ond fruiting stem; portion of

stem, ond stipule (5); enlarged flower; pod

with calyx attached, ond two views of seed.

Austrian pea, Pisum sativum arvtnse. Flowering and fruiting stem,and pod; view of seed

ond hllum.

Kudzu, Puerario thunbergiano. Piece of stem

bearing leaf and flowers; three pods; two

views of seed.

PLATE 20
-93-

Seed-shattering is light in the standing crop. The vines and pods can be left to

mature well before combining starts.

Production Under Cultivation. Yields of seed in the Pacific Northwest are between

800 and 1000 pounds per acre. The yields in this Region are between 200 and 700 pounds.

Harvesting. Direct combining is satisfactory where the land is smooth and the vines

are not matted to the ground and therefore difficult to pick up. Bedded land will

interfere with the operation of the sickle, even if pickup guards are used. The cylinder

and concave spacing must be very wide, the cylinder speed very slow, especially when

the vines and pods are dry. to prevent cracking the seed. In northeastern Arkansas

the same adjustments are used for peas as for soybeans.

Austrian pea plants can be cut and windrowed either with windrower or side-delivery

rake. The crop is ready when 75 percent of the pods are mature. After a rain more

shattering occurs in windrows than in standing vines.

The vines can be cut, bound and cured in the shock, and later threshed.

Care of Green Seed. Combined seeds contain too much moisture to leave in tight sacks*^

partially filled sacks can be set on racks and fanned, or left staniing in the field

where sun and wind will dry them. Seeds threshed from cured windr^sws can be safely

sacked without heating.

Cleaning. Pure pea seeds can be cleaned easily with a fanning mill. Mixed with grain

the seeds are separated in a spiral separator.

Quality. Most Austrian pea seeds are smooth, not wrinkled. There are about 2750 in a

pound of pure seed. The 7-day germination tests average 89 percent, with few hard seeds.

The longevity is about 3 years, but ordinarily the seeds should not be held in storage

more than 2 years. Seeds in storage should be examined frequently for insect daimge

and fumigated.

KUDZU (Pueraria thunbergiana)

Adaptation and Use. A long-lived, vigorous vine having large leaves, each with 3

broad leaflets. The vines trail, twine and cling to form a dense mass of vegetation

on open ground, trees, arbors and steep banks. It is used for erosion control, soil

inprovement, grazing, hay and ornamental cover. Because of its way of growing it is

considered an unusual erosion control plant. It has been grown suc:cessfully on most

soils, except those poorly drained or low in fertility. It is a high rainfall plant

and should not be planted for field growth in areas where the rainfall averages less

than 40 inches annually. The plant has little use where the vines are killed back to

the crown by cold.

Likely Seed Areas. Most seeds are imported from Japan. No important seed production

has been developed in this country. In this Region wherever the plants clinb the number

of flower clusters increase. The vines must be off the ground to produce flower clusters. Local areas where the plants set seed are not comnon. One area where seed

production is consistent was located in southwest Arkansas on a backyard arbor. This

arbor of approximately 1000 square feet annually produces 6 to 2 0 pounds of seed.

Other arbors have been found producing seed in lesser quantities. Some seed-producing

spots are found along the edges of protected woodlands. Reports indicate that seed

production is more general east of the Mississippi River.

Managing for Seed. There is no way to know what the seed yield will be in any given

location uitil the pods mature. Three to five seeds are borne in each pod. Insects

sometimes attack the green pods and prevent seed development or the pods may half

develop and remain enpty. One should not be misled by prolific pod production; the
-94-

degree of fill needs to be determined in each planting. Eventually a way will be found

to produce seeds economically. The demand will increase when it becomes more generally

known that field plantings can be easily and cheaply established from seeds.

Productipn Under Cultivation. See Likely Seed Areas.

Harvesting. Maturity is in early fall. Handpick the pods when they are nearly dry

rnd before they fall.

Cleaning. Dry pods can be shelled by hand or the seeds flailed out and the material

run through the fanning mill.

Quality. The 7-day germination is low, only 24 percent. The 28-day germination is

32 percent plus 42 percent hard seed. There are 38, 000 seeds in a pound of pure seed.

The longevity is more than 2 years but this figure is not verified. All seeds should

be scarified before |lanting.

HOP CLOVER^(Irifolium dubium)

BIGHOF CLOVER (T. procunbens )

Adaptation and Use. These two winter clovers will be treated together because they

usually grow in the same mixtures. Itop clover (called least hop and suckling clover)

is a straggling, cool-Weather annual with small loose heads of yellow flowers. Bighop

clover (called large hop and low hop clover) is taller and has much larger flowers,

larger heads, and the large petal of each flower is marked with prominent nerves.

Both kinds grow on all types of acid and lime soils from the high rocky slopes to the

wet overflow bottoms. Bighop is mDre important in grazing lands of the northern side

of this Region than it is in the southern side. Both kinds are naturalized as far west

as the 38-inch rainfall line. Generally used for pasture, occasionally cut for hay.

Where bighop is in pure stands it is frequently cut for hay. When grown with rye grass

the mixture may be harvested for seeds or hay.

Likely Seed Areas. Pastures going into the winter closely grazed, vacant lots where

the growth is kept short and abandoned fields that have been mowed and are too low in

fertility for white clover, all in Louisiana, Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern

Texas.

Managing for Seed. Yields of these hop clovers vary with the fertility, other soil

conditions and treatment of coopanion plants. Abandoned land in the adapted sections

soon come back to hop, if grazed or clipped. By fertilizing the growth in the fall,

the yield can be increased. Permanent pastures nearly always contain fairly uniform

stands when the grass is grazed. The clover may be closely grazed until about 4 weeks

before blossoming starts, then the livestock are removed. If there are weeds in the

field at that tiine, the clover should be clipped to level the irregular growth and

reduce the stature of the weeds and grasses. Grazing and clipping are conducive to

uniform flowering. Blossoming begins in April and continues as long as moisture and

cool weather prevail. The drying soil and long hot days of June soon stop growth

and the plants die. Harvesting begins when about 75 percent of the flowers are brown

and while the stems are still partly green, i.e., before shattering. The plants generally die in time for common lespedeza to serve as a summer legume on the same field.

Production Under Cultivation. The average yield from managed pastures, is from 50 to 75

pounds per acre, below 50 pounds where little attention is given to deferred grazing

and clipping.

Harvesting. Most harvesting is done with a mower and windrower in one operation when

dew is on the plants. The windrows can be combined after conp le te drying, bunched
-95-

when partly cured, dried in the cock and the cocks carried to the stationary combine

with a buck rake on a canvas-covered wagon^ or stacked and threshed. The dry seedhay

breaks easily and should not be handled mûre than necessary. Direct combining is

possible when the crop is fairly free of other plants and matures uniformly.

The setting of the combine is similar to the setting for white clover. The adjustable

sieve in the shoe is nearly closed and a fine-me^h Screen (no larger than 1/14 inch)

is inserted belcwr the adjustable sieve. Some air ¿an be used on the chaffer and adjustable sieve. The lespedeza Seed pan is used by many farmers to harvest small lots of

seed. The crop is left until fully ripe and ready to shatter.

Care of Green Seed. Seed-pan harvested seeds should be dried before sacking. Cleaning

will help in the drying. Seeds combined from standing stems should be thoroughly dried

before sacking.

Cleaning. The fanning mill will clean hop clover seed. A simll-maSh top screen that

will allow the clover seeds to sift through will remove most weed seeds.

Quality. The seeds of bighop clover are very small. There are approximately 2,000,000

in a pound; whereas there are 1,000,000 in a pound of hof) clover. The seeds are not

easily distinguishable from those of several other clovers. The purity of well cleaned

seeds is high, the 7-day germination seldom exceeds 29 percent and the final germination averages about 50 percent with from 20 to 36 percent hard seed. The longevity

is about three years but may be longer under proper storage.

ALS IKE CLOVER (îrifoUun hybridum)

Adaptation and Use. A short-lived, hardy perennial, usually handled as a biennial;

the nearly smooth stems 1 to 3 feet high bear pink flowers in round heads that are

3/4 inch in diameter and produced on long peduncles. Native of northern Europe. Naturalized in the northeastern states. Occurs often in this Region as a contaminant of

red and white clovers; also planted in northern Arkansas and Louisiana. Adapted to a

rainfall of more than 38 inches except in irrigated valleys of high elevations. Most

often grown on and usually considered more suitable for bottomland, and wet, poorly

drained overflow soils; a more certain crop there than red clover. Useful in high

irrigated valleys, planted for hay, seed and grazing. Seldom seeded alone for hay

because of a tendency to lodge. Used with smooth brome, timothy, orchardgrass , redtop,

tall fescues, red clover, and alfalfa.

Likely Seed Areas. Not much seed is produced in this Region. Most commercial seed is

from the northern states, Canada or imported from Europe. A full explanation of yields

and methods of harvesting are included here because of its potential use and value.

Mana ging for Seed. When seeded with winter grain or on the young grain in early spring,

the grciMrth is usually weak until the grain is removed, and may suffer severely if drought

occurs in June. Early varieties of grain are recommended. When the growth promises

to be rank in the absence of a conpanion crop» it is pastured until about May IS. This

causes additional branching and produces more flower stalks. Irregular flowering and

seed development results in a mixture of ripe and unripe heads. Harvesting starts when

about three-fourths of the heads are brown and flowers reflexed. Shattering does not

readily occur while the plant is green and tough, but in age some of the heads will

be lost. An examination of a cross section of the ripe heads should be made by rubbing

a given number of dry flowers in the palm of the hand. The pods enclosed within the

calyx usually contain from 1 to 4 seeds. An average pod fill or seed set can be determined and the number of seeds ascertained by examining at least 10 heads from random

plants. A hundred seeds per head is considered a good yield. The seeds are harvested

in July and August and nearly always taken from the first crop because of poor second
-96-

growth. When the seed crop is taken early, the second growth often produces enough

heads and seeds for good volunteer stands. Whether such stands will be used as a crop

in succeeding years will depend on the weeds present in the young stand. »ftich seed is

now grown under irrigation in high mountain valleys of Idaho. There the practice is

to apply a heavy irrigation in the spring to produce maximum growth, and other waterings

while the crop is blooming, until many of the heads mature. Better pollination through

the use of bees usually increases the yield.

Production Under Cultivation. The average dry-land yields are 175 to 225 pounds per

acre. Yields as high as 950 pounds are produced under irrigation.

Harvesting. Mowing and windrowing in one operation, curing well and combining with a

pickup or guard attachment is the preferred method. If wilted in the swath, windrow

when the dew is on. Direct combining is practiced if the crop has not lodged, matures

properly and is reasonably free of weeds. Keep cylinder bars clean or vibration may

build up from material in the green plants. General combine settings for threshing

cured naterial are: Cylinder speed 1500 to 1600 RPM, cylinder spacing close, 1/8 to

3/16 inch; use 2 concaves, but usually not necessary to cover slots between concaves;

leave adjustable chaffer a half to two-thirds open; use some air, a 1/12-inch round-hole

special sieve, and do not overload the machine for best threshing.

Another method of preparing the seedhay for the combine or thresher is to bunch as

soon as stems are wilted, and cure in the bunch. Thresh from the bunch or stack for

later threshing, using a buck rake.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds directly combined need drying before sacking.

Cleaning. Seeds from the combine will, in most cases, need some recleaning; from stationary hullers , probably less cleaning. When weed seeds are present, careful screening

is necessary.

Quality. Alsike clover has a small seed. There are about 700,000 in a pound of pure

seed. The purities are high. The average 7-day geimination is about 80 percent with

about 15 percent hard seed. The vitality in good storage holds up well for 4 years

and then drops rapidly.

CRIMSON CLOVER (Trifoliun incarnat un)

Adaptation and Use. A hairy winter annual 1 to 3 feet tall with cylindrical heads of

pale crimson flowers. Ordinary strains are largely soft-seeded and do not maintain

volunteer stands from year to year because most of the seeds are readily germinable in

contact with moist soil. Dixie and Auburn are two superior varieties with hard seeds.

Their seeds, however, cannot be separated from those of ordinary strains. Crimson

clover is used for green manure, orchard cover, cool season grazing, hay, seed production, bee feeding and for a reseeding winter legume in permanent pastures. Adapted

to various soils (except poorly drained muck and those of low fertility) ranging from

the sands to the heavy clays and varying in acidity and alkalinity. Phosphate is

necessary on all soils. Grown in the humid areas of the Region, in a rainfall of

35 inches or more and in irrigated valleys at higher elevations. Most seeds grown in

the Region are of the hard-seeded strains.

Likely Seed Areas. Under cultivation only. Seeds for local distribution are now being

raised in this Region. Other southeastern states are supplying seed.

Managing for Seed. When seeded in September, growth is usually sufficient to survive

winter-killing and heaving. When seeded in permanent grass or with a short-lived grass,

there is less winter-killing. Seeded alone, the crop can be grazed in the southern part

of our Region until March 1 to 10 and then allowed to flower and fruit. Seeded with
Hop clover, Trifolium dubium. Flowering branch, and

section of stem with stipule (5) and leaf; flower,

and three views of seed.

Crimson clover, Trifolium incarnatum. Flowering

stems; three views of seed.

Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum. Flowering stem;

portion of stem with leaf and stipules (5); flower

and calyx; view of six seeds.

948413 O—51 11 PLATE 21
-97-

oats or barley, the two crops usually mature about the same time and can be harvested

together, (^fortunately the heads of crimson clover do not mature uniformly and the

ripe pods, including the floirers, break off easily. Harvesting is a difficult problem,

especially when the fertility is such as to cause lodging of the stems and rains interfere. The heads should be checked for fill and seed set. Counting and rubbing the

brown flexers in the palms of the hand will give a good indication of fill and yield.

A good yield is one which has 75 to 80 seeds per head and an average of 12 heads per

foot. Neither variety of the two hard-seeded strains named above is resistant to crown

rot, a disease that at times reduces the stand but never exterminates it.

Production Under Cultivation. Usually 250 to 300 pounds of hulled seeds per acre under

ordinary dry-land conditions and as high as 650 pounds under the best conditions.

Harvesting. Crimson clover is one of the most difficult crops to thresh. The seeds

are produced in fragile pods which in turn are enclosed in a tough hull (calyx). The

difficulty is in tearing the hull apart.

Direct combining is discouraged because of the green, often lodged stems, the mixture

of ripe and green heads , and the presence of green weeds. This method will work where

there is uniform ripening, an even stand of heads, and no green weeds. The two best

harvesting methods are: (1) Cutting and windrowing on a high stubble when most of the

seeds are in the hard-dough stage and combining with lift guards from the windrow,

and (2) windrowing, followed by bunching, usually with a buck rake while material is

danp, curing and threshing. Mowing and windrowing should be done at night or when

material is damp. The windrows are left small (3 feet wide for a 5-foot combine) and

uniform to give a slow, even feed into the combine. Experience indicates a larger yield

can be obtained by threshing small windrows rather than large ones.

Be sure the material vaoves onto the draper without pulling or picking. Combine adjustments for dry, cured material include: (1) Cylinder speed of 1500 to 1600 RPM, (2)

close spacing of cylinder and concaves, (3) full set of concaves, (4) closed slots

between concaves, (5) chaffer, adjustable shoe sieve, special adjustable chaffer extension and tailboard adjusted so that all unhulled seeds drop to tailing auger and are

carried back to cylinder (watch tailing elevator closely), (6) use what air is necessary

to keep unhulled seeds from passing through shoe sieve, and (7) insert extra, roundhole 9/64-inch (1/10-inch) screen in lower part of shoe to sieve out the hulled seed.

Adjustments for rough combining improperly cured material include: (1) Reduce forward

speed of combine so as to keep a minimum amount of material on the chaffer and prevent

clogging of elevator, (2) cylinder speed of 1000 to 1100 RPM. (3) cylinder clearance

1/8 to 3/16 inch, (4) normal number of concaves, and (5) enough air to blow chaff off

chaffer. Threshed in this manner, one-third of the seeds are hulled and two-thirds

unhulled. Since adjustments on the combine and thresher are numerous, hulling seeds

of this clover becomes a special community job. Small lots of unhulled seed can be

harvested with comb strippers or rotary brush strippers.

Care of Green Seed. Conibined direct, the seeds must be spread, stirred and aired

frequently to prevent heating. Immature seeds should not be stored ixntil the moisture

content is about 12 percent. Seeds cured in the windrow or stack can be sacked at the

machine.

Cleaning. When threshers are adjusted to hull all the seeds, further cleaning may not

be necessary. When hulled and unhulled seed are threshed, the hulled seeds are screened

out in a mill and the unhulled seeds are run through a hammer mill and recleaned.

Quality. Crimson clover seeds are usually sold hulled. Some unhulled seeds, however,

are marketed. Properly ripened seeds will retain their vitality for 3 years; after

that, the vitality drops rapidly. Normally the seeds should not be held longer than

2 years before planting. The germination from all sources varies from 75 to 90 percent,
98-

with an average of 85 percent. The 7-day germination average for the hard-seeded

strains is 73 percent, the final germination 76 percent with some hard seeds. There

are 140,000 seeds in a pound of pure seed.

LAPPA CLOVER (IrifoliuM lappaceun)

Adaptation and Use. Also called lap, lappacea, burdock and wild European clover. A

hairy, leafy annual with slender, weak, often creeping stems 1 to 2 feet tall, roundish

or obovate leaflets and small purplish-white flowers. The globe-shaped head with the

long bristly calyx lobes looks like the fruit of burdock plants. The seeds are held

tightly in the fuzzy calyx (hull).

Lappa clover was found growing wild near Snow Hill, Alabama in 1923. Since then it

has been found at other points in Alabama and Mississippi especially in the Black Belt,

It is best adapted to heavy more fertile soils that are not too acid, but has been

grown successfully on soils coarser in texture. It is used for hay, pasture, cover

crop and erosion control and fits in well with Johnsongrass and Dallisgrass, producing

its jwiximum growth in spring before these grasses are important. Many stands in Alabama

have volunteered for more than 10 years and are still good. ** It has never been killed

by cçld in middle Alabama".

In this Region the probable range of adaptation is from North Texas and North Louisiana

southward and as far west as the Blacklands of Texas (35 inches of rainfall).

Likely Seed Areas. Very little in this Region. Seeds are produced in Alabama and

Mississippi.

Managing for Seed. Seedings are made in early fall with inoculated seeds and phosphate.

Volunteering occurs when the moisture is available in the fall. Growth continues slowly

during the winter. It reaches a height of 4 or 5 inches in February and makes rapid

growth in March, April and May. Flowers appear in late April. The plants reach full

maturity in early June and then die. When the soil is well inoculated the growth will

smother out common lespedeza and white clover. The heads do not fall easily. There

is almost no shattering of the flowers, or of the seeds from the closely invested hull.

The seedhay can be handled without breaking and very much like white clover. If the

plants are cut while still green, but with most of the heads brown the seedhay can be

used for hay, threshed for seed, or scattered as seed mulch on new planting sites.

The time of harvest is early or mid-June.

Yield Under Cultivation. Not too well known but believed to be 100 to 200 pounds per

acre. Commercial seed is available.

Harvesting. Lappa clover seeds are usually harvested by mowing and drying the seedhay

in the swath, then windrowed, or bunched while the plants are tough. The somewhat

wilted hay may be bunched and cured through a process of sweating which tends to reduce

the toughness of the hull. The dry windrows can be combined, but separating the seeds

from the hulls is difficult. The unhulled seeds from the combine or dry seedhay can

be threshed with a clover huiler. Also the unhulled seeds and seedhay can be run

through a hammer mill and then through a fanning mill.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds cured and dried in the field can be sacked at the huiler.

Cleaning and Processing. Unhulled seeds can be hammermilled at high speed, using a

screen with approximately 3/16-inch round holes and cleaned with a fanning mill.

Quality. The seeds are somewhat larger than those of white clover, unspotted, usually

yellowish to light purple in color. There are about 680,000 in a pound. The 7-day

germination is slightly above 50 percent. The hard seed content is high. For best
Loppo clover, Trifolium lappoceum Flowering

branch; enlarged stipule (5) and leoflet; two

views of calyx: (/) normal witti corolla intoct, and (2) split open; two views of seed.

m» 0

Red clover, Trifolium pratanse. Plant and

longitudinal view of inflorescence; view

of three seeds.

PLATE 22
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germination the seeds should be scarified. They are relatively long-lived and in most

cases will retain good germinating qualities for 3 years in proper storage.

RED CLOVER (Irifoliun pratense )

Adaptation and Use. An upright, leafy, and usually hairy perennial, most often grown

as a biennial. The flowers are red, in a globe-shaped or egg-shaped head and not borne

on stalks. This is the favorite legume of the northern states for hay and pasture.

There are two forms--medium red and mammoth. Recent experiments have produced some

promising selections for the Region. Kenland is one adapted to the southern conditions

where anthracnose is normally prevalent and a serious disease. Kenland is long-lived

and has maintained good stands into the third year. Other adapted varieties are:

Louisiana Red, Cumberland, Kentucky 215, and Tennessee Anthracnose-resistant.

Red clover grows best on heavy, well-drained or moderately wet soils of good fertility.

Acid soils must have lime, phosphate and potash. Climatically, red clover can be

planted in the Region from eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas eastwrard, and to some

extent under irrigation on the High Plains.

Likely Seed Areas. Northern Arkansas has grown red clover for long periods and produces

some seed. There is some commercial production of one or two promising varieties in

Louisiana, the seeds of which are now becoming available.

Managing for Seed. Following the practice used in northern states, red clover is allowed

to grow for one year, develop a good crown after the companion or nurse grain crop

is cut and go through the first winter without much disturbance of top growth. The

second year the first crop is cut for hay in early June and the regrowth, which produces

more heads, is saved for seed. In this Region if it is seeded in the fall and makes

sufficient growth to survive the winter, a seed crop can be taken the following summer

or autumn. Set or fill depends on a number of factors, as (1) sufficient soil moisture

to obtain and maintain full flowering, (2) an abundance of bumblebees and other pollir

nating insects, (3) the absence of injurious insects, as clover midge and chalcis fly,

(4) conpeting weedy vegetation and (5) the time of the first cutting. The density of

the second growth and the kinds and numbers of noxious or competing weeds will be

factors in determining whether the crop should be harvested. Hot dry weather is not

conducive to seed set. A dry period in the summer may suppress stem development.

Early cutting, or proper pasturing and moisture relations following these practices

will often determine the amount of second growth. In Idaho, under irrigation, the

clover is usually pastured until about June 30. If the growth is uneven it is clipped

at that time for subsequent even stem production.

A crop is reckoned on the basis of seed set and the number of heads per work area. An

average of 10 heads per square foot and 60 seeds per head will produce about 100 pounds

of seed per acre. This is a fair yield. With an average of only 30 seeds per head and

10 heads per square foot the yield is about 50 pounds per acre. This is doubtful seed

to harvest for anything except home consumption unless the price is high and harvesting

costs are reasonable. If there are fewer than 20 seeds to the head the crop probably

should not be saved. The average nuirfjer of seeds per head can be determined by clipping

a given number of mature pods (dry flowers) from several heads, shelling them irt the

palm of the hand and counting the seeds. Then obtain by estimate or count the average

number of flowers per head. The best time to cut red clover for seed is when the heads

have turned brown and the seeds show a violet color. Sappy, growthy stems can be cut

earlier than short, dry stems, as the seeds will mature on the sappy stem. Under irrigation where the crop can be matur¿d uniformly and combined, the heads may be left until

they are black or until the seeds have fully colored.

Production Unc^er Cultivation. Two bushels (120 pounds) is a good yield under ordinary

dry-land conditions. Under irrigation the yields are usually nuch greater.
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Harvesting. Various machines have been used to cut the stems for seed but the most

comnon are a mower with a windrowing attachment, and one with a bunching attachment.

The windrower is preferred because it leaves the cut clover out of the path of the

horses or tires. Some farmers mow the stems, windrow while damp with a dump rake and

then when cured fork into small cocks. These should not be over 3 feet high and wide.

One objection to straight mowing is that the horses or tractor wheels break off some

of the heads. Hulling is sometimes done from cocks. More often the cocks are stacked

and the stacks hulled after the sweating period is over. Hulling can be done with a

moving combine from the windrow, but the material must be bone dry. The adjustments

are about the same as for crimson clover and must be carefully made. Where the acreage

is large enough in a community, a special clover huiler is usually available. Such a

machine consists of an ordinary threshing unit equipped with an auxiliary cylinder

and concave with rasps for shelling the seeds from the hulls. The dry material is always

fed evenly through a huiler.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds combined direct must be carefully and thoroughly dried before

sacking. When hulled from the cock or stack, they are sacked at the machine.

Cleaning. Most lots of seed from the huiler have a high purity, provided they are

free of noxious weed seeds. A cleaning by the fanning mill will usually remove the

excess trash. Careful cleaning in the multiple-screen mill or gravity cleaner is

necessary to remove noxious weed seeds.

Quality. Commercial seed standards for red clover are: Purity 98 percent; germination

85 to 90 percent; number of seeds per pound 275,000 to 313, OOOt longevity 4 to 6 years;

weight per bushel 60 pounds. The Regional Laboratory shows a 7-day germination test

of 76 and a final test of 77, plus 11 percent hard seed. Stored at the ordinary room

temperature of 18** C. Danish seed tests show that from the fourth to the fifth year

the germination dropped from 86 to 48 percent with almost no change in the hard seed

percentage. In this ]Region, seeds probably should not be held longer than 3 years in

storage.

WHITE CLOVER (Trifoliun re pens)

Adaptation and Use. A creeping perennial rooting at the nodes, forming small crowns,

and without aerial stems. The white or pink heads of flowers and leaves are borne on

long stalks from the creeping stems. Known in the South as "white Dutch clover.'» The

southern type is more growthy than the northern and northeastern form. White clover

is a valuable grazing crop and is widely adapted to the soils of this Region. It grows

best in the humid sections on the well-watered first and second bottoms when well

supplied with phosphorus and lime. Planting on poor hillsides is not recommended.

Not grown where the rainfall is less than 36 inches except under irrigation.

Likely Seed Areas. These are found in southern Louisiana and in the delta lands of

Arkansas and Louisiana. Grazed areas of good density also appear at many points in

eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma. Small plots can be harvested in some closely

mowed city lots and parks throughout most of the high rainfall areas.

Managing for Seed. White clover is a low-growing plant that will not flourish in the

shade. For dense even stands, all other plants conpeting for light must be kept short.

Proper fertility will help to keep the plants vigorous and crowd out weeds. In the

Western Gulf Region, do not grow white clover for seed alone; combine grazing with

seed production for most profit. To maintain a stand of clover and keep carpetgrass

reduced, the following practices are recommended: (1) Disk late in the fall, (2) disk

in 200 pounds of 20 percent superphosphate on fine sandy loams and use 300 pounds

of 0-12-12 or 0-14-7 on all other soils, (3) reseed all thin or bare spots, (4) graze

the spring growth with cattle, removing the animals 6 weeks before maximum number of
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flower heads are produced, (5) after removing the stock, clip all growth to a uniform

level, (6) rogue such weeds as amaranth, charlock, catchfly, cinquefoil, canarygrass,

mayweed camomile, plantain, sheepsorrel, and alsike clover, as their seeds are difficult to separate from white clover seed, and (7) keep growth clipped after seeds are

harvested. Cross-pollination is needed for seedfill. Honeybees, the chief pollinating insect, can be used by placing hives in the vicinity of the clover during the

blooming period. Fill can be determined by selecting a number of dry heads at random,

obtaining an average of the number of flowers in each and then completely shelling

out all seeds in the palm of the hand. An average of 70 seeds per head and 30 heads

per square foot will produce an average yield. ''Cut when two full sets of blooms have

been made and when 75 percent of the seed in the second set of blooms are in the harddough stage.»' The first set of blooms yields the most seeds. Do not wait for all heads

to mature, as many of the earliest will have lopped over to a point where the sickle

bar will not touch them.

Production Under Cultivation. A hundred pounds of seed per acre is a normal yield

from average stands. Uhder ideal conditions from a good stand 200 pounds per acre have

been obtained.

Harvesting. The plants are cut close with a mGRnring machine in excellent condition and

with enough power to prevent the sickle from pulling the plants. Mow when the plants

are dry. If the growth is heavy, it can be left in the swath to cure completely; then

combine. If the growth is thin or short, the cured hay must be raked into a windrow

before combining. Windrowing is necessary if a heavy rain falls on the seedhay in

the swath and cements it to the soil. Handle the seedhay as little as possible, but

it must be turned when wet and be thoroughly dry when combined. To overcome adverse

weather conditions and the costs involved in drying for combining from the field, the

partially cured seedhay can be picked up from the windrow with a buck rake, or bullrake stacker, stacked, and threshed after sweating is over.

Some growers use a mower with a buncher attachment. Others fasten a metal pan to the

cutting bar and rake the heads into it. When the pan is full, the seedhay is placed

in small bunches. Small compact bunches can easily be turned for drying. When thoroughly dry, such bunches can be forked into a canvas-cove red truck or wagon and hauled

to a stationary huiler or combine.

Growers who have tried direct combining find it very difficult to get all the seeds,

and some adjust their machines to obtain heads and segments of heads rather than clean

seeds. Later, after thorough drying, they re thresh the heads.

Combining from the windrow requires skill, and adjustments must l:>e made to suit conditions. Auxiliary-motor-equipped coiii>ines should be used, as it takes uniform cylinder

speed to do a clean job. The cylinder speeds vary from 1100 to 1600 RPM. The cylinder

spacing is close. Two concaves are used in some machines. The chaffer, shoe sieve,

chaffer extension, and tailboard are set to return all unhulled seed to the tailings

auger and cylinder. Use a special 1/14-inch screen below the shoe sieve to permit

passage of clean seed only to grain auger.

Clean threshing is accomplished best with a clover huiler equipped with a fine-mesh

sieve.

Care of Green Seed. White clover seeds cured properly and thoroughly dried before

hulling can be sacked at the machine. Cleaned seeds command a better price than combinerun seeds. Fanning mills carefully adjusted will generally clean such seeds if no

noxious weeds are present. To remove most weed seeds, a several-screen cleaner or

gravity cleaner is needed.

Quality. The seeds of white clover are very small. There are 800,000 to the pound.

Danish investigations show that when the seeds were held at 18** C (room temperature),
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the germination is not markedly lower, until the sixth year. The longevity standard

is 2 to 3 years. The average purity is 95 percent, the average germination 75 to 80

percent. In some lots, the hard seed content is as much as 22 percent. Continuous wet

weather at the time the crop is curing in the field is responsible for the browning of

the seeds. This lowers the quality, even though the germination may not be materially

reduced.

LADINO CLOVER (frifolium repens var.)

Adaptation and Use. Ladino clover, a giant form of white clover, is showing much

promise in grass>clover mixtures throughout much of the United States. Its height

growth is about twice that of white clover. It is used in mixtures of permanent turf

and bunchgrasses. It is extremely aggressive under favorable conditions and retards

the encroachment of many weeds. For grazing it serves best where it is^ permitted to

make good growth and is then grazed down to a height of about 4 inches. Livestock

should then be removed until the plants have made good regrowth. It fits in well with

rotational grazing and provides pasture for all classes of livestock and poultry. When

grown with a grass it has proved valuable for hay and silage.

Likely Seed Areas. None outside of commercial production areas which are mostly in

the irrigated sections of the western states.

Managing for Seed. This clover has been planted at many points in this Region. So far

the reports are not promising for seed production, as it blooms sparingly. When it

dies in the summer it does not reseed like the naturalized white clover strains do.

The seeds of this variety are like*that of the other varieties and cannot be separated

from them. For genetic purity it should not be sown in the vicinity of any other

variety of white clover. In Oregon the crop is managed for seed production by grazing

in the spring until about May 15. IWo sets of blooms are allowed to develop and mature

before harvesting begins. "Where irrigation water is properly and evenly distributed

and the first set of mature blossoms is not destroyed or kept wet too long, this practice

often results in increased seed yields." A long growing period is most desirable for

this practice. Some growers cut the crop once for seed in the fall from a «^x>le season's

production of flowers. Under this treatment the crcp is ready to harvest when 90 percent of the heads are brown and mature enough to thresh when dry. Irrigation water

is usually kept off the field two weeks before harvest.

It is not practicable to combine the standing crop. In clover growing secticms, clover

hullers or combines with clover-hulling attachments are available. The crop is handled

as described for white clover, that is by mowing and codbining from the swath or windrow

and by bunching and hulling.

Yield Under Cultivation. Yields vary from 100 to 400 pounds of seed per acre.

Cleaning. See white clover.

Quality. See white clover.

PSKSIAN CLOYBR (îrifoUim r^s^piwitxm)

Description, Adaptation and Use. A true winter annual; the stein 10 to 24 inches tall,

upright or weak and spreading; the leaves similar to those of white clover but more

tapering at the base; the flowers pink, in small dense heads which are borne on the ends

of slender stalks produced from the axils of the leaves. The most cona factions feature

of the plant is the inflated calyx. That part of the calyx tube bearing the two longer

teeth enlarges into a small pear-shaped balloon and becomes veiny and papery-white. The
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remainder of the calyx stays normal in size. The rather few-flowered heads in fruit

are slightly more than a half inch in diameter.

Adapted to all of the Region in the rainfall area above 37 inches; not hardy in the

North, but grown to soms extent in the coastal region of the Pacific states. It is not

recommended for upland sandy soils. Best adapted to low-lying, heavy, moist soils.

On strongly acid soils finely ground limestone is recommended to reduce the acidity.

All fertilizers should be applied in the fall before planting or before naturally sown

seeds germinate.

Likely Seed Area. Local areas in Louisiana. There is a possibility, due to ready

adaptation and the lightness of the pod and inflated calyx, that this clover will

increase naturally and spread more rapidly than white clover. It is reported spreading

to roadsides in eastern Texas.

Managing for Seed. Persian clover is seldom planted in pure stands. The best stands

are obtained on Bermudagrass and Dallisgrass turfs, also on carpetgrass. Disking a

turf on the last aids in establishment of a stand. Under ideal conditions Persian

clover is a prolific seed producer. The flowers are self-pollinating, which favors

seed-setting under unfavorable weather conditions. Honeybees undoubtedly help to

increase seed production.

For maximum stem yields, grazing is recommended up to approximately four weeks before

the flowers open, usually about April 1. The cattle are then removed and the field

clipped to obtain an even growth and lower the stature of the weeds. This method

favors uniform stem and bloom production and reduces the amount of straw to be handled

when harvesting the seeds. Time of harvest is inportant. The inflated fruits break

off the heads easily. Harvesting should start when most of the pods are light-brown

in color and before the fruits are dry enough to break off even though many flowers

are still open.

Harvesting. Persian clover does not combine well from standing stems. The method

favored is mowing, but with the mower bar equipped with lifter guards. In thick or

lodged stands a weed bar works better than the regular bar. The plants are wilted

in the swath and windrowed while damp to roll the heads to the inside of the windrow

as much as possible to reduce shattering. The windrows should be unifprm for the best

combining. Occasionally the wilted material is put in small cocks, cured and combined.

The recommended settings of the combines are: High cylinder speed (1600 RPM), use

additional concaves, very narrow cylinder-concave spacing (1/16 and 1/4 inch), use

1/12-inch special screen below shoe sieve and a slight amount of air.

Threshing with clover huiler is recommended when material is bone dry and hullers

available. The easy shattering and inflated fruits suggest that the stems can be

allowed to dry in the swath, then raked off with a dump rake and the fruits picked up

with a suction machine with reduced fan speed.

Production Under Cultivation. Under ideal conditions seed yields are 600 pounds per

acre. More often they range from 150 to 300 pounds per acre.

Cleaning. See white clover.

Quality. The seeds of Persian clover are olive-green to blackish-purple. Most lots

contain some reddish-brown and yellow seeds. In size and color they are difficult to

separate from those of white clover, being but slightly larger. There are 675,000 in

a poumd of pure seed. The purity is generally 95 percent or higher, the 7-day germination is low and the final germination plus hard seed seldom exceeds 85 percent.

Very often there are some white clover seeds present in each sample when grown in

Louisiana. The seeds should not be stored longer than 3 years.
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HAIRY VETCH (Yicia villosa)

Adaptation and Use. A taprooted and fibrous-rooted winter legume with hairy or smooth,

weak sprawling stems to 3 feet high; leaves compound and ending in a tendril; flcxvers

hairy, purple and loosely clustered at the ends of the branches; pods 3- to 6-seeded.

A smooth variety is about as common as the hairy form.

Adapted throughout the Region in sandy soils. Used for soil conservation, soil inprovement, grazing, hay and seed production. Limited or summer rainfall restricts its use

in the western part of the Region.

Likely Seed Areas. The West Cross Timbers seems to be a good production area. Considerable seed is now grown in eastern Texas. The pacific Northwest still supplies

a good deal of seed.

Managing for Seed. Vetch is grown alone and with a companion grain crop, such as

Abruzzi rye, Balbo rye, oats, barley, or wheat. It is also overplanted on Bermudagrass.

Moderate graaping in late winter and early spring reduces the shading effect of the

grass and increases the branching of the vetch. For maximum seed production, livestock

are removed about April 1 or 10- This allows 4 to 6 weeks of growth before flowering

starts. Normal rainfall in late April and through May assures good growth. Seed yields

depend on late April and May rainfall, proper fertilization in the fall, and on the

absence of harmful insects and diseases. Successive crops of vetch encourage insects

and diseases. Harvesting begins as soon as most of the pods are nearly mature, usually

the second week in June, and before shattering advances.

Ten percent of the pods or more may be green when shattering starts. The crop must be

examined to learn when the most and best pods are ready. A hot dry period or drought

during part of the flowering period may cause flowers to drop. A late rain may increase

flowering and result in a late crop.

Harvesting. Several methods have been used. The combine is most popular in this

Region. When the crop matures fairly evenly the conJbine should be used. Usually the

combining starts while there are some green pods present. Some operators prefer to

lose some seed and wait until the vines have dried and partially collapsed, and most

of the pods are dead ripe. The vines handle better under such conditions. Adjustments

of the auxiliary-motored combine for partly green vines are: (1) Use pickup reel to

keep sickle clean; (2) use a divider-spreader bar to press the vetch away from the

standing material; (3) use cylinder speed of 1200 to 1300 RPM, cylinder spacing of

1/4 to 1/2 inch; (4) open chaffer and shoe sieve enough to allow free passage of the

seeds; (5) use a 5/32 x 3/4-inch or a 6/32 x 3/4-inch slotted screen beneath the shoe

sieve when vetch is grown alone (widen the opening of all sieves and omit special screen

if harvested with a grain crop); (6) use some air to keep chaff floating above shoe

sieve, and (7) drop tailings back of cylinder. Because of rapid changes in moisture

during a hot day, the cylinder speed will need to be reduced to suit dryness of seedhay.

For dry stems the cylinder speed need not exceed 1000 to 1100 RPM.

Vetch has been successfully harvested with a mower and attached windrower. A gooseneck

bar fastened to the mower shoe is helpful in separating the tangled plants. Start

mowing when most of the seed is well formed and beginning to color and before the pods

turn dark. The buck rake is used immediately to push the windrowed seedhay into large

bunches where it is cured 3 to 5 days. The large bunches are carried to the combine

or thresher with the buck rake and rolled onto a canvas. Sometimes the combine is

pulled to the bunches. Since shattering is going on at the machine during threshing,

a canvas should be spread out under the feeder to catch loose seed. Windrowed seedhay

is picked up carefully with a tine attachment and combined.

Vetch has been mowed and combined direct from the swath with a pickup attachment.

Some seeds are lost during this operation. Where a part of the field ripens ahead of

the remainder, or is weedy, it can be mowed and cured while the reiiBinder of the field

is being combined.
Hairy vetch. Vicia villosa. Portion of

stem showing leof, stipule (S), onif

flowers; two pods; views of seed

end hilutn oreos.

White clover, Trifoliam rtptns.

Rooted stolon; view of seven

seeds.

X4

X5 9 v.-1

Persian clover, Tn'folium resupinatum. Leaf, stipule

(5) ond flower; cluster (head) of fruits [F)\ two

views of inflated calyx at the time seeds are

mature, and two views of seed.

PLATE 23
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Production Under Cultivation. Seed yields vary considerably. They are as low as

75 pounds per acre in dry years or when insects and diseases are bad. The range is 100

to 800 pounds per acre.

Care of Green Seed. Seeds combined with grain can be placed in porous sacks, set in

the sun and air and turned until dry. Better to fill the sacks about one-third full.

Cleaning. When dry, the seeds are run through the fanning mill to remove trash and

dirt and then through a spiral separator to separate the vetch from the small grain.

Quality. The seeds of hairy vetch are nearly round, and usually evenly colored darkbrown or blackish. They resemble the seeds of narrowleaf vetch. The laboratory records

show an average purity of 96 percent, a 7-day germination of 58 percent and a final

germination of 81 percent plus 8 percent hard seed. The number of seeds per pound

varies from 16,000 tp 20,000- Properly cured seeds remain viable for about 3 years.

Most lots grown in the Region are planted in the fall or early winter following the

harvest.
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MEANING OF TERMS

Auricle - An ear. The earlike lobes found at the summit of the sheath in grasses.

Awn - A slender bristle at the end of an organ.

Callus - A downward extension of one of the following: (1) The rachilla, (2) mature

lemma, (3) oblique section of the rachis.

Caryopsis - The grain or fruit of most grasses.

Fertile floret - The lemma and palea with an included pistillate or perfect flower.

Floret - The lemna and palea with or without an included flower. Florets may be perfect,

staminate, pistillate, neuter, sterile, and rudimentary.

Fruit - The ripened ovary or this organ with the parts that may enclose it at maturity;

the fruit of legumes is a one-to several-seeded pod.

Glumes - The pair of bracts at the base of a spike let.

Grain - A caryopsis; a ripened ovule enclosed in and grown fast to the pericarp or

ovary wall.

Infloreficence - The flowering part of a plant.

Lemma - The bract of the spike let above the glumes; the outer bract of a floret.

Ligule - The appendage on the inside of a grass leaf at the junction of the sheath

and blade.

Palea - The inner bract of a floret.

Panicle - An inflorescence with a main axis and subdivided branches.

Pedicel - The stalk of a splkelet; the stalk of a flower.

Raceme - An inflorescence in which the spike lets are pediceled on a rachis.

Rachis - The axis of a spike or raceme.

Rhizome - An underground stem; rootstock.

Seed - The fertilized ovule with an embryo formed within it; in grasses the grain

with or without bracts or appendages.

Seedfill or fill - Applied to developing or developed ovules.

Seedhay - Cut stems of plants that bear ripe or ripening seeds; tailings from the

combine may be seedhay.

Seed material - Usually applied to trashy seeds obtained by stripping, topping or

rough combining; uncleaned seeds.

Seedunit - In grasses the grain alone or the grain with its attached or surrounding

bracts or appendages.

Spike - An unbranched inflorescence in which the spike lets are without stalks.

Spike let - The unit of the inflorescence in grasses, consisting usually of two glumes

and one or more florets.

Sterile floret - One incapable of producing fruit; in grasses it may be staminate

or without sexual organs.

Stolon - A stem above ground creeping and rooting at the nodes.

ir U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : O—1951