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G4 R A S 8 i-

July 13th, 1896.
gRes?
JUNE GRASS.

The grain of the June grass is Oblong, compressed, and
with a@ groove on one side. The floral and palea en-
close the grain when threshed, but do not adhere to it.

The seedling grows from the seed without moving it, even
though it sprouts on the surface of the ground. If in the
ground the seedling pushes its way up through the soil leaving
the grain where it is sown. |

The root-stocks of June grass are underground stems.
These branch out horizontally from the stem, because the
sheath of the leaves are not strong enough to make them grow
upwards. The rootstocks also branch at the nodes. These
branches may progress some distance and then develope into a
new plant. At the nodes of thcse rootstocks there are remer
ants of sheaths which gradually decay as the rootstock becomes
old. The rootstocks are terete or nearly so, and solid.
They elongate at the tip when growing through the soil. This
tipg is quite sharp, sometimes penetrating bulbs and tubers.

The stems are terete or nearly so, and smooth. When
young they are solid but become hollow as they get older.

The stem is made up of nodes and internodes which vary in
length. The stems elongate mainly at the lower end of each

internode. The lower internode becomes mature and fixed

100256
 

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and incapable of elongating the first of any, and so on in
regular succession to the lower part of tne upper internode,
which is the last one to mature. In case tne grass becomes
lodged the lower side of the node will elongate until the
stem becomes erect, or at least curves upwards again.

The leaf of June grass is composed of three parts, the
sheath, ligule, and blade.

The sheath is smooth and subcompressed, and wrapped
around the stem with its edges inflated. When the plants
are very young the sheathes are continuous around the sten,
but as the plant developes they split lengthwise, the edges
overlapping each other. The sheathes act as a protection to
the soft growing parts of the stem. Without these the stems
would be easily bent over and destroyed. It is beneath the
lower parts of the sheath tnat tne stems elongate. The
cells of the stem at this place are soft and watery being
filled with chlorophyll.

The ligule is truncate and of a white color. [It is
probably to keep the water wnich runs down the blade, from
getting in between the stem and sheath. It is very thin
and contains no chlorophyll.

The blades have paralell sides which terminate abruptly
at the end forming a close boat-shaped tip. After a little
the growth of the blades takes place at the base where they

are joined to the sheath. They grow in the one direction only :
a
When the blades become dead and dry up, or when they dry out
in dry weather, the leaves fold up like the two sides of a
book. This folding is due to the action of two groups of
bulliform cells, running on the upper surface the entire
length of the leaf, on either side of the keel. These bull-
iform cells are larse epidermal cells with their cell walls

which are very sensitive to any drying tendency. When this

drying takes place, the wells of these cells contract caus-

ing the leaf to fold up. This reduces the evaporating sur-
face of the leaves about one-half, so that the plants are
better able to withstand the dry wether.

The panicle is open, pyrimidal; the diameter about equals
the heighth; rays smooth arranzed in half whorls with spike-
lets den$@ on the upper half.

The spikelets are ovate or oblong, from three to five
flowers, compressed, rachilla jointed between the florets
which are perfect.

The empty glumes are uneqal, tne lower one about two-
thirds as lar.:e as the upyver one, 1- nerved. The lower one
is 3- nerved.

The floral glumes are five nerved with a cluster of
silky hairs extending from the base to about one-half the way
up the nerve. The middle nerve forms a keel to the floral

glume.

There are three stamens with the anthers dehiscent
longitudinally, the styles are two in number, short, terminal,
with stigmas feathery.

June grass in some parts of the world, especially in
grazing districts ranks very high. When once established it
will seldom die out from any of the natural causes. It
starts early in the spring, being one of the first grasses
to afford a bite to stock. It flowerg from the mi .dle of
May to the first of June, and ripens about one month later.
After ripening it soon dies down and turns yellow. In this
condition it is not fit for stock to eat. In the fall when
the rains come, it makes a new start, remaining green and
growing until the ground becomes frozen in the fall. It grows
best on rich calcarcaus soil where the panicles will be found
to be from ten to twelve cm. long, while on light sandy soils
they may not be over three to four cm. long. All sizes
between these can be found according to the richness of the
soil on which the grass is growing.

In some states, especially Kentucky, the late growth
of this grass affords food to the stock for most of the winter
as here the cattle are not housed and fed during the winter.
In shady places it grows comparatively thrifty, but is
more spindling than when grown free from shade. When a plant
of June grass has a large space alotted to it, the leaves

will be shorter and broader. The color will also be much
darker and in general the plant is stronger. By putting a

-4-
tile over one of the leaves it grew much longer than those not

so treated. —
\ nN
\

The June grass growing on the lawns is most vigorous
in ravenes. On the lisht sandy places it is short and the
panicles are very small. In places where the steam pipes
pass under the ground, the June grass grew much earlier in the
spring. In some of these places the panicles were nearly
developed May Sth. This was also noticible in places that
sloped towards the south. By May lltn, the panicles ~ere
nearly in flower on all June grass.

The principle use Of JUne grass in this section of the
country is for lawns and pasture. For this purpose it is
barely excelled by any of the grasses grown here. It spreads
very evenly over tne surface, and does not make bunshes as
many grasses do. If kept mown and watered it will remain
green throughout the summer. For lawns it is sown either in
the fall or spring, although fall sowing is considered the
best. This is especially true if the next summer is dry, as
the fall sown will get a good start before the drought tomes
On. This will enable it to pass through the drought if not
too severe, without being injured. It is a highly nutri-
tious and cattle relish it very much. This is best shown
in pasture fields where you will find it eaten close to the

ground, while the other grasses may be several inches high.

Cattle fatten very fast on it, and the meat is usually of a
fine quality.

With all its good qualities, it also has some that are
not desireable in this section of the country, for it is
looked upon by many as a weed. This is because it is so
difficult to kill when once established. When plowed under
it will soon start a new growth, which will in a few days,
witn moist wethcr make the field appear green. Many times
after corn is planted if,cold wet weather sets in, the June
grass will come up to such an extent that the field will
appear green before the corn is up, owing to the large amount
of growing June grass. If it continues wet this growth of
June grass is very hard to kill, and it annoys the farmer
very much. It also injures the wheat crop some years by

killing the young seedlings.

-~6-
 

Cross SaelYou: 4. Leal
Showing Bulli \Yow tet ell 8,
 

 

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