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CIRCULAR No. 328 August 1934

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
WASHINGTON, D.C. eat =

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS ON
CULTIVATED LAND IN THE GREAT PLAINS

By D. A. SavaGE,!

Assistant agronomist, Division of Forage Crops and Diseases, Bureau of
Plant Industry

CONTENTS
Page Page
LTO UEM CIO Mes ees ee es SS 1 | Transplanting pieces of sod—Continued.
Description of buffalo grass___________-__-_---- 2 Wadtholspacing = 5225 ors = 12
‘Botanicalcharacteristics—-— = === = - = 2 Precautions in transplanting____________ 12
SpLeadineshabits lees eee 4 iResodding larve areas=. 2 eee 12
Seasonal development_______________---- 4 Broadcasting small pieces of turf_________ 15
ACAD LATO Mees wee eee ees ae ae es ole 4 {| Treatment after transplanting or broad-
DIS tral tho Meo eS i Se Ee 4 (EMS Up aa Ye 16
Gilmape xa ee rate kOe ee NO ee = 5 Packing phe lan de sews eS oo a 16
Soilsrequiremientst = «See oe 2 5 INTIS AION nk ees Sa Re 16
Oitlineol experiments. = 24. ss ee 7 Cultivation hanntul=0= =) See 16
Artiticialgseedinoses Ss 21th eae eee 7 Clippingior pasturing ssa == ee ee 16
Eransp lAaniine Tuners =e 8 Sweetclover as a companion crop________ 17
Solidispacinevol SOdS= Sse es Se a 8 Grading and top dressing________________ 17
Transplanting pieces of sod_____-__-_---_-_-- Os POLI ZAG One 20 Se eee ie ere eee So Sea 17
STITCELG ES OCS Bee ae ets ai en 9 Lawns of buffalo grass__-_._______-______ 18
Gufeme the sods= sss... 2 Se 10 (RASTTITOS meyers aE eons a ee RS 18
IateroteLransplamting 2-332 eS 10 HW TOSIONS Prevention =k ee 18
Optimum transplanting season __-_-_-_-_-_-_-- 11 Roadside improvement__________________ 19
IDaHereit, SIZeS OMSOGS te = es aw ae Soe ZOE SUTIN ATs y east ee te ee ee ee ee ee 19
INTRODUCTION

The value of native buffalo grass for lawns, pastures, athletic fields,
golf courses, and general landscaping purposes has long been recog-
nized and largely substantiated by practical and scientific experience.
For these purposes no other domestic or imported grass has been found
fully adapted to the climatic conditions of the Great Plains area.

Comprehensive resodding experiments with buffalo grass were
started at the Fort Hays (Kans.) Branch Station? in 1929. Since
1910.lawns have been successfully established by methods similar to
those here described. These investigations have not been carried on
long enough to warrant the formulation of definite conclusions regarding
all of the details involved. However, a progress report of the results
obtained to date is considered worth while, in view of the widespread
demand for information on the subject of renewing native grasses on

1 The writer wishes to acknowledge the valuable assistance of H. N. Vinall, Division of Forage Crops
and Diseases, and A. L. Hallsted, Division of Dry Land Agriculture, in outlining the experiments reported
herein, and of L. C. Aicher, superintendent, Fort Hays (Kans.) Branch Experiment Station, in providing
facilities for conducting these investigations.

2 These experiments were conducted cooperatively by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station and

the Division of Forage Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, at the Fort Hays Branch Station,
Hays, Kans.

72956°—34—_1

,

2 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Jand found to be unprofitable or unsatisfactory for the production of
cultivated crops.

Most of the native grassland in this region, of which that in buffalo
erass constitutes an important part, was placed under cultivation -
within the last half century (fig. 1). The sloping nature of thousands
of acres of this land soon rendered unprofitable the production of
cultivated crops. Recognizing the mistake made in plowing under
so much of the native grass, many acres were left out of cultivation,
hoping that the grass would become reestablished of its own accord.

The time required for buffalo grass to renew its original virgin con-
dition on abandoned farm land was stated by Shantz * to range from
20 to 50 years. This is fully substantiated by recent observations of
abandoned fields in western Kansas. In very few instances and
only under the most favorable conditions has a good turf of buffalo
erass been reestablished naturally in less than 20 years. Long after

FIGURE 1.—Typical buffalo-grass prairie which has never been plowed. On left of fence is a closely grazed
pasture; on the right a golf course where the grass has been clipped frequently.

land is taken out of cultivation the resultant vegetation is largely
composed of less desirable annuals and taller grasses, indicating even
to the casual observer that the area had once been cultivated (fig. 2).

DESCRIPTION OF BUFFALO GRASS

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Buffalo grass (Buchloé dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.) is a long-lived
perennial stoloniferous grass, generally dioecious but occasionally
monoecious, with flat, light-2 -ereen leaves and flaglike inflorescence
dig. 3). The writer ‘has observed and collected many scattered
plants showing definite monoecious characters. The staminate-
flowered stems grow to a height of 3 to 6 inches, ascending slightly

3 SHANTZ, H. L. NATURAL VEGETATION AS AN INDICATOR OF THE CAPABILITIES OF LAND FOR CROP PRO-
DUCTION IN THE GREAT PLAINS AREA. U.S.Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bull. 201, 100 pp., illus. 1911.

bale Rak Ns a ews

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS a

above the leaves, with spikes well exserted and containing two clusters
of spikelets on one side of the rachis. The staminate inflorescence
resembles that of blue grama, but the flaglike clusters of spikelets on
the side of the rachis are shorter. The seed-bearing stems are ex-

FIGURE 2.—Field on the ranch of William Philip, near Hays, Kans., after being uncultivated for 30 vears,
showing scarcity of buffalo grass and prevalence of taller grasses and weeds. This field is surrounded
by thick stands of native buffalo grass.

FIGURE 3.—Different types of buffalo-grass plants: A, Pistillate; B, monoecious plant; C, staminate.

ceedingly short, mostly one-half to 1 inch long, usually hidden by the
leaves and carrying ovoid spikelets with indurated outer scales.
The leaves are erect, one-twelfth of an inch or less wide, and generally
3 to 4 inches long.

4 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Improved strains of buffalo grass that are decidedly more rapid in
spread than the average plants have been selected and isolated at this
station. Repeated transplanting of this material in comparison with
the average sod has proved that the difference in spread is due to
inherent characters rather than to chance environmental conditions.
Numerous comparisons of staminate and pistillate plants showed no
consistent relation between the sex and spreading ability. Certain
plants have appeared to be more abundant seed producers than others,
indicating the possibility of selecting abundant seed-producing strains.

SPREADING HABIT

The grass spreads almost entirely by surface runners, or stolons,
which are equally abundant and vigorous on the staminate or so-
called ‘‘male” and pistillate or so-called ‘‘female” plants. When the
end of one of the stolons is raised it appears to have a springlike
tension, tending to return to the surface of the ground with more
force than that of its weight alone. This interesting characteristic
of the stolon structure promotes rooting of the stolons.

SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT

In the latitude of Hays, Kans., buffalo grass becomes dormant
shortly before the first killing frost in the fall, remains in that con-
dition all winter, and renews growth late in the spring, seldom before
the early part of May. Its maximum growth usually occurs in May
and June. During the summer there are usually one or more periods
when heat and drought cause a practical cessation of growth. The
erass greens up rapidly after a rain following one of these periods and
will remain green all summer if rains are timely and well distributed.
The leaves lie rather flat on the ground and tend to curl up at the ends
as the plants become dormant. The attractive gray-green leaves
assume a light-brown color in the fall.

The flowers usually occur in greatest abundance in June, but con-
tinue to appear later in the season if conditions are favorable. The
seeds begin to mature in July and usually remain attached to the
plants until dislodged by torrential rains, killed by freezing weather,
or eaten by livestock.

ADAPTATION

DISTRIBUTION

Buffalo grass is adapted to a rather wide range of soil and climatic
conditions in the Great Plains area, its natural habitat.t| The grass
derives its name from the fact that it represented one of the chief
constituents of the native flora upon which vast herds of buffalo
grazed in the early days. It seldom occurs in pure stands, even in
the central Great Plains where it is best adapted, but usually is asso-
ciated with other grasses, chiefly blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis Lag.).
The latter, also one of the so-called ‘“‘short grasses’’, is often errone-
ously referred to as buffalo grass, but is taller, spreads less readily, and
does not lend itself so well to vegetative methods of propagation.
Blue grama has narrower and more erect leaves and no stolons.

4 The writer is particularly under obligation to the following men for supplying information as to the
distribution of buffalo grass: A. E. Aldous, A. S. Hitchcock, H. L. Shantz, J. T. Sarvis, Herbert C. Hanson,
B. F. Kiltz, E. F. Chilcott, V. L. Cory, Alvin Kezer, Matthew Fowlds, O. R. Mathews, J. C. Stephens,

L. L. Zook, J. F. Brandon, Owen Nelson, C. P. Wilson, H. E. Morris, A. E. Seamans, Leroy Moomaw,
R.S. Towle, A. L, Nelson, Lyle F. Watt, and A. L. Frolik.

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 5

Buffalo grass occurs In varying abundance on the nonsandy soils
from the central part of western North Dakota and southeastern
Montana southward to Texas and New Mexico. Its distribution
includes the western two-thirds of South Dakota, a small part of
eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska outside of the sand hills and
favored bottom lands, eastern Colorado and western Kansas, western
Oklahoma and Texas, and eastern New Mexico. It is also found in
the mesquite-grass (Hilaria belangert Steud.) area of south-central
Texas. Throughout this region of major distribution are many
areas in which buffalo grass occurs sparingly or not at all (fig. 4). It
is found in greatest abundance on the Plains west of the ninety-ninth
degree of longitude in Kansas and east of the 5,000-foot contour line
in Colorado.

Scattered areas of buffalo grass, varying in size from small patches
to large meadows, occur east of the ninty-ninth meridian, but the
principal grasses in this more humid section are the big and little
bluestems, though these often give way to buffalo grass on the higher
lands or when overgrazed. The ninty-seventh degree of longitude in
Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma represents the approximate eastern
limit of major occurrence of the grass in overgrazed pastures. It is
found east of this line, but usually in isolated colonies.

Buffalo grass is said to be important in Texas on the high plains,
the rolling plains, the black-land prairies, Grand Prairie, and in much
of the Edwards Plateau, but in this latter area curly mesquite is the
dominant turf grass.

The outer limits of distribution of buffalo grass are indicated by
reports of its occurrence near Forsyth, Miles City, and Wibaux,
Mont.; Williston and Valley City, N.Dak.; Brookings, Huron, and
Sioux Falls, S.Dak.; Lyon County, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebr.; Manhattan,
Kans.; southeastern Oklahoma; Shreveport and St. Charles, La.;
Carlsbad, Magdalena, and Grant, N.Mex.; in parts of Arizona, and
above an elevation of 6,000 feet in Colorado. This grass comprises
varying proportions of the native vegetation in an area embracing
538,000 square miles of the Great Plains.

Buffalo grass thrives with very little care or attention in the locali-
ties where it is most widely distributed. It also grows well and spreads
rapidly in the marginal areas when protected from invasion.

CLIMATE

Buffalo grass is adapted to a rainfall range of 12 to 25 inches. It is
able to endure the cold winters of the northern Plains except in the
extreme north, the hot summers of the southern Plains, and the fre-
quent excessive droughts and high winds characteristic of the entire
area. Where the rainfall exceeds 20 inches the taller grasses encroach
upon and tend to crowd out the buffalo grass. Dry years under such
conditions favor the latter, while wet years witness an increase in the
stand and growth of the tall grasses.

SOIL REQUIREMENTS

Buffalo grass is best adapted to the heavier types of well-drained
upland soil in this region. It will not thrive on pure sand or on soils
containing a high percentage of sand, but grows well on sandy loam
soils which contain a fair percentage of clay. It is especially well

RE

CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTU

6

adapted to the class of soils regionally referred to as ‘‘hard lands”’,
which produce heavy yields of wheat and other crops when the rain-

Buffalo grass also occurs on the heavy gumbo soils

fall is sufficient.

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NATIVE GRASSES 76172 SQ MI
LESS ABUNDANT BUT IMPORTANT

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106,172 SQ.ML

SPARSE, EXCEPT IN OVERGRAZED

PASTURES

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129,692 sa.M.

GENERALLY VERY SPARSE, APPROXIMATE OUTER

LIMITS

“226,296 SQ MI.

538 269 sa Mi.
SANDY SOILS CONTAINING LITTLE OR NO

BUFFALO GRASS

FIGURE 4.—Regional distribution of buffalo grass, showing the sections in which the grass occurs in varying

TOTAL AREA

©.90 9,0
° °
So O

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degrees of abundance and the approximate area of each.

y present on the sand hills
It is seldom found growing

on land in which the subsoil is wet periodically below a depth of 2

of Nebraska and the Dakotas but is rarel
of Nebraska and southwestern Kansas.

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 7

feet. The accumulation of moisture below this depth encourages the
development of taller grasses.

OUTLINE OF EXPERIMENTS

The experiments conducted at Hays, Kans., for 5 years have in-
cluded annual transplantings of buffalo-grass sods of various sizes
spaced at different distances and broadcastings of small pieces of turf
by hand and with a manure spreader. Some resodded areas were
clipped and others left unclipped, to determine the effect of such
treatments and of shade upon the spread of the grass. After setting
out sods in a uniform manner on certain areas, parts of such areas
were seeded with sweetclover and the crop allowed to maintain itself
by continuous reseeding, to ascertain the effect of the clover upon the
spread of the grass and the possibility of obtaining sweetclover pasture
while the grass was becoming established.

The effect of light irrigations was determined by applying water to
certain station lawns after transplanting with sods. The effect of
periodic excesses of moisture was studied by setting out sods in the
spillway ends of roadway drainage systems. This also provided an
opportunity to study the function of buffalo grass in controlling ero-
sion. Studies of a similar nature were conducted on terraced and
unterraced eroded land.

The recently invented Davis erosion-control hole-digging machine
was tried in preparing land for transplanting sods on certain areas.
Other mechanical contrivances have been given some consideration
in an effort to expedite and reduce the expense of resodding operations.
Sods have been set out at different times during the year, to determine
the optimum transplanting period. Measurements of the actual
spread of the grass under different controlled conditions were made
whenever possible.

ARTIFICIAL SEEDING

Buffalo grass cannot be reestablished with consistent success by
artificial seedings. The seeds usually germinate poorly and are
extremely difficult to collect because produced so near the ground.

Occasionally the seeds germinate satisfactorily under natural
conditions. In moving a building during the winter of 1930-31 the
excavated soil from the new building site was used to fill in and level
the ground. It was planned to resod this area, but a volunteer stand
of scattering buffalo-grass plants emerged and made artificial trans-
planting unnecessary. Inspection of these plants showed that they
emerged from seed at a uniform depth of 1 inch. Parts of the seed
were still adhering to the rootlets when examined. Apparently all the
viable seed covered to a proper depth produced plants.

This original stand was rather thin at first, but it spread rapidly,
and by the end of the 1933 season had covered practically all inter-
vening spaces. After transplanting only a few sods in the blank
spaces this lawn, composed of pure buffalo grass, presented a pleasing
uniform appearance at the end of the third season (fig. 5).

The success of this volunteer seeding indicates the importance of
continuing investigations in the development of strains bearing viable
seed, also of satisfactory seeding and seed-harvesting methods.

8 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
TRANSPLANTING RUNNERS

Limited experiments indicate that buffalo grass may be propagated
by setting out rooted or unrooted stolons in moist soil. The stolons
will take root and grow in much the same manner as strawberry
plants under especially favorable moisture conditions. This is a
tedious method and will succeed only if the soil is kept moist for
some time after the stolons are set out, which is not practical on an ©
extensive scale.

SOLID SPACING OF SODS

Covering an entire area with sods at once is practical only for very
small areas or where the chief consideration is immediate results
without regard to the costs involved. This is accomplished by
leveling or smoothly grading the land, laying the sods on the surface

FIGURE 5.—A lawn of pure buffalo grass on the Hays Station photographed in 1933, the third year after
being started by natural reseeding in excavated soil containing a large amount of native sod.

of the ground, and snugly fitting them together. Sods used for this
purpose should be cut smoothly to a uniform depth of 2 to 4 inches.
Although strips of buffalo grass may be successfully cut to a depth
of an inch or less, it has been impossible at Hays to roll up and move
such strips like a carpet, as is done with other turf grasses in the
Eastern States. Unsuccessful attempts have been made at different
times to roll up thin strips of buffalo grass under varying moisture
conditions. Even when the heavy clay-loam soil at this station was
thoroughly wet, the sods could not be rolled up without breaking
into numerous pieces and severely injuring the roots. There may be
soils in the buffalo-grass region where this could be accomplished, and,
if so, the task of sodding would be simplified.

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 9

TRANSPLANTING PIECES OF SOD

Lyon and Hitchcock ° were the first to suggest propagating buffalo
grass by cutting the sods into small pieces and pressing them into
prepared soil. It was claimed that if these pieces were spaced 2 feet
apart each way they would ‘‘thicken up fairly well in one season.”

. T. Sarvis transplanted buffalo-grass sod on the experiment
stations at Highmore, S.Dak., in 1906; Ardmore, S.Dak., in 1913;
and Mandan, N.Dak., in 1918.

Some sodding of lawns at the Fort Hays Branch Station was done
prior to 1910, but-no satisfactory record of this work is available. In
1912 two cultivated lawns were set to pieces of buffalo-grass sod
spaced several feet apart in shallow furrows. Figure 6 shows one
of these lawns as it appeared in 1933, 21 years after it was established.

FIGURE 6.—A buffalo-grass lawn set out with sods in 1912, as it appeared in 1933.

These lawns, under trying conditions and dependent only on the
natural rainfall for soil moisture, have continued highly satisfactory
for many years.

The object of the experiments herein described was to develop
effective and economical methods of reestablishing buffalo grass on
lawns and cultivated fields. The following discussion of results will
indicate the procedure found most satisfactory at the Fort Hays
Branch Station.

SOURCE OF SODS

The sods should be obtained from a virgin stand of nearly pure
buffalo grass. It is possible to find such areas in most localities

5 Lyon, T. L., and HitcHcock, A. S. PASTURE, MEADOW, AND FORAGE CROPS IN NEBRASKA. U.S,
Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bull. 59, 64 pp., illus. 1904.

72956°— 342

10 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

throughout the central Great Plains. Most of these areas contain a
small mixture of grama grass, which is not very objectionable. Under
natural conditions buffalo grass occurs in mixtures of about equal
numbers of staminate and pistillate plants with occasional patches
consisting of pure stands of one sex. The exclusive use of pistillate
plants for lawn purposes is preferable. A lawn composed of such
plants with leaves wholly covering the stems is much more attrac~
tive than a lawn containing staminate plants. While the brown
spikelets of the latter are not wholly unattractive, they rise above
the leaves and detract from the green appearance of the lawn.

CUTTING THE SODS

The best procedure in cutting sod is to use a sod cutter which
disturbs the roots less than a plow and makes a smooth clean cut
which facilitates the handling and transplanting operations. A
satisfactory sod cutter may be constructed with comparative ease
and at little expense by bolting a sharpened U-shaped flat steel
blade on sled runners or frames similar to those on a walking plow.
A series of holes bored in the vertical ends of the blade to which
sliders are attached allows for adjusting the depth of the cut. The
blade should be shaped so as to cut a strip of sod about 12 inches
wide. ; When the soil is well moistened by heavy rains one team of
horses can pull a 12-inch sod cutter with ease. Where it is desired
to cut the sods in strips narrower than 12 inches, rolling colters or
vertical knives similar to the fins on a crowning plow may be fastened
to the U-shaped blade, so that 2 or 3 strips, 4 to 6 inches wide, may
be cut with one operation. These strips usually are cut with a sharp
spade into the final size desired before loading for transporting.
Figure 7 shows a satisfactory hand-made sod cutter that cuts two
strips 6 inches wide at one operation.

Cutting the sods in strips alternating with uncut areas allows the
buffalo grass to spread and rapidly heal the scars of furrows left by
the cutter. At Hays the vacant strips left in the sod in the spring of
the year usually are re-covered with grass by the end of the first season.
If it is desired to maintain the original smooth surface, the furrows may ~
be filled with fresh soil, taking care to leave no heavy deposit of soil on
the adjoining uncut areas. A few years after this is done, it is
impossible to see where the sods had been removed. If the sod is
obtained from sloping land, it is important to cut the strips on the
contour to control erosion. Observance of these precautions will
encourage the owners of buffalo-grass grazing land to provide sods to
those who otherwise would be unable to resod their cultivated land.

RATE OF TRANSPLANTING

The amount of sod required to transplant an acre depends upon the
manner in which the work is done. An acre of cultivated land when
transplanted with 4-inch cubes spaced’3 feet apart requires about 2
square rods of original sod or a strip 12 inches wide and 538 feet long.
Four and one-half times that amount, or about 9 square rods, are re-
quired when the cubes are spaced 2 feet apart and 9 times that
amount, or 18 square rods, when the sods are spaced 1 foot apart.
Double broadcasting with a common manure spreader requires the

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS it

use of sod material equivalent to the amount needed to space 12-inch
squares of sod 3 feet apart. By this method one-ninth of an acre of
cut sod will cover an acre of cultivated land.

OPTIMUM TRANSPLANTING SEASON

Buffalo grass has been successfully transplanted at Hays every
month from March to August, inclusive. The moisture content of
the sods at transplanting time and the rainfall conditions afterwards
determine the rapidity of spread to a greater extent than the month in
which the work is done. The slight differences noted for the dates of
transplanting indicate that the best time is in March and April,
preferably before spring growth has started and immediately follow-
ing a heavy rain.

FIGURE 7.—A hand-made sod cutter used at the Hays Station in cutting two strips of sod 6 inches wide
: at one operation.

The work at Hays usually was conducted when the sods were fairly
moist, although some very dry sods have been moved. Dry sods are
more inclined to crumble and break in handling, and the drier sods
require a longer time for recovery and renewal of growth. In certain
instances sods were dug, stacked in the open, allowed to become com-
pletely dry, and then carefully transplanted in comparison with freshly
dug sods. A thorough soaking of some of the dry sods forced them to
start growth as rapidly as the freshly transplanted but nonirrigated
sods. Most of the dry nonirrigated sods recovered from the enforced
period of dormancy following rain, but they spread much slower at
first than those which were transplanted without drying. No at-
tempt has been made to move the sods in midwinter, but doubtless
this may be done with fair success if the sods are well saturated with
moisture and the ground is not frozen.

if CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
DIFFERENT SIZES OF SODS

_ Twelve sizes, ranging from 2 to 17 inches square and from 2 to 4
inches deep, have been compared in annual transplantings since 1929.
A 4-inch cube was the most efficient in spread and the most convenient
to handle, except for large-scale transplanting where a 2-inch depth
was preferred. Sods larger in surface area than 4 inches square spread
faster but not so rapidly in proportion to their original area. The —
large pieces may be used to advantage if it is found convenient to do
so and the source of supply is plentiful. Smaller sods, particularly the
ne squares 4 inches deep, spread much more slowly than the 4-inch
cubes.

For sods ranging from 2 to 6 inches square, those cut 4 inches deep
spread considerably faster than those cut shallower. When larger
sods were used the thin sods spread almost as fast as the thick ones.

WIDTH OF SPACING

Experiments in spacing transplanted buffalo-grass sods were started
in 1929 and repeated each year thereafter. The results indicate that
4-inch cubes or 6-inch squares 4 inches deep, spaced 1 foot apart in
rows 1 foot apart, will spread to cover the intervening spaces in | year
under local dry-land conditions. Similar sods spaced 3 feet apart re-
quired less than 3 years to make a complete cover of grass (figs. 8
and 9). -At the end of 5 seasons the sods spaced 6 feet apart had
spread to cover practically all of the intervening spaces. Transplant-
ing the sod in solid rows 6 inches wide and 3 feet apart spread much
faster but less efficiently, considering the amount of sod used, than
individual sods spaced 3 feet apart. The alternate or off-set method
of spacing the sods in rows resulted in more efficient spread and faster
coverage of the intervening spaces than regular checked spacing.

PRECAUTIONS IN TRANSPLANTING

While buffalo grass may be transplanted with reasonable assurance
of becoming established and spreading rapidly, considerable care 1s
necessary when a smooth turf is desired. To accomplish this, the
land should be leveled and graded a sufficient time before transplant-
ing, to permit the soil to settle. Embedding the sods level with the
surface of the ground either in holes dug by hand or in carefully plowed
furrows is important if it is desired to use the area for landscape pur-
poses. If the sods are set too deep, loose soil washes over them and
retards the spread of the grass. If the sods are not set deep enough,
the soil may erode from around them, leaving the surface unlevel.
High winds also contribute to a roughened condition by blowing soil
particles from around the sods and depositing dust in the patches of
grass. While care in transplanting is helpful in obtaining a final
smooth surface, treatment after transplanting may serve to correct a
rough surface condition caused by careless transplanting or wind and
water erosion.

RESODDING LARGE AREAS

Recognizing that transplanting has been consistently more success-
ful than broadcasting, efforts have been made to devise practical
methods by which transplanting may be accomplished at a low acre
cost. For extensive areas intended for pasture purposes a smooth

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 13

final surface is not so important and costly care in transplanting is
therefore not necessary. In fact, less moisture will be lost by run-off

Sti
ate ie:

Bee

FIGURE 8.—Four-inch cubes of buffalo grass transplanted 3 feet apart, July 21, 1932. Photographed Septem
ber 15, 1932.

FIGURE 9.—Four-inch cubes of buffalo grass transplanted 3 feet apart, background July 21, 1932, as shown in
: above illustration; foreground May 10, 1933. Photographed in December 1933.

on pastures having a surface somewhat rough than on those having
the finished smoothness of a lawn.

14 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Pieces of sod varying from 2 to 17 inches square and cut to a depth
of 1 or 2 inches have been successfully transplanted by merely dropping
them on freshly and deeply cultivated land and pressing them level
with the surface of the ground with a heavily weighted surface packer.
This eliminates the tedious labor involved in digging holes or plowing
furrows and setting the sods by hand.

This time-saving method of transplanting, which has been rather
well tested and found to be both practical and successful, may be
practiced in several ways. One is to cut the sods at a depth of 1 to
2 inches, using a 12-inch sod cutter equipped with erect dividing blades
so as to cut two or three strips 4 to 6 inches wide at one operation.
The strips then may be cut rapidly with a sharp spade into sods of
convenient lengths of 4 to 12 inches and set in a field that has been
prepared by disking or one-waying to a depth of 4 inches.

3-man crew can unload the sods in a comparatively short time—
1 man to drive the truck or wagon and 2 men to unload the sods. If
the sods are thrown to the ground they must be handled with reason-
able care, to prevent them from landing grass side down. To elimi-
nate this possibility and save time the sods may be unloaded in sheet-
iron chutes fastened to the wagon and dragging on the ground far
enough in the rear to prevent the sods from overturning as they slide
off the incline. Jn this manner they are rapidly transferred from the
wagon to the surface of the cultivated land into which they are pressed
by a heavily weighted packer. If there is difficulty in packing the
sods level with the surface, shovel attachments may be fastened to the
bottom of the sheet-iron chutes, to provide furrows for the sods.

Unloading also may be facilitated by using a manure spreader with
the reel removed and platforms fastened to the sides of the rear end
on which the men stand who are unloading. The driver can then
operate the apron-moving lever so as to keep a supply of sods con-
stantly available for unloading.

By following a practical resodding method of this sort a farmer can
reestablish buffalo-grass pastures on a considerable acreage during
his spare time and at a nominal cost. Such work should be started
on the higher elevations, so that if it is not completed at once seed
washing down from the higher land will assist in resodding the lower
areas.

Other means of facilitating the transplanting of large pieces of sods
have been tried with varying degrees of success. Tossing the sods
in shallow-plowed furrows and harrowing and packing the land after-
wards often covers many of the sods beyond recovery or to an extent
that retards growth.

The Davis erosion-control hole-digging machine has been used to
prepare the land for sodding. This machine makes 10,000 holes per
acre, or one every 4 square feet. It is possible to vary the depth of
the holes from 1 to 6 inches. After placing a sod in each hole the area
is either harrowed or raked by hand. The harrowing buries many of
the sods and retards the growth of others but leaves a sufficient number
to indicate some merit to the practice. Because of the rough nature
of land handled in this manner it is impossible to pack the soil firmly
around each sod. Using a hand rake instead of a harrow results in
renewal of growth by all sods, but adds materially to the cost,

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 1d
BROADCASTING SMALL PIECES OF TURF

Broadcasting on recently cultivated land and packing afterwards
has been shown by results at this station to be a practical method of
reestablishing buffalo grass only with favorable rainfall.

Resodding by various broadcasting methods has been tried since
1929 (fig. 10). In the first trial the sods were cut with a sod cutter
in shallow strips about 2 inches deep, chopped into small pieces with
a spade, and broadcast by hand. Each piece represented a surface
area of approximately 1 square inch. Certain plots were double-
disked before broadcasting and others afterwards, all being firmly
packed with a corrugated surface packer or roller as the final opera-
tion. When well-distributed rains followed, most of the sods renewed
growth in excellent condition, with the difference in plots decidedly in
favor of disking before broadcasting... About 1 acre of sod was used

FIGURE 10.—Bufialo grass in 1933 on an area broadcast by hand with small pieces of sod in 1929.

to 9 acres of land, and the ultimate spread was the same as that for
4-inch cubes spaced 3 feet apart. The final surface of the grass was
smoother on the broadcast than on the transplanted plots.

In 1930 a manure spreader was successfully used in broadcasting
the sods. At first they were cut into small pieces, as for broadcasting
by hand, loaded on the manure spreader, and scattered. This dis-
tributed the sods rather evenly over the freshly cultivated ground, but
shook most of the soil off the roots, causing the grass to dry out
rapidly. To overcome this difficulty and to eliminate the task of
chopping the sods into small pieces, shallow strips as large as could
be handled conveniently with a shovel were loaded onto the spreader.
The spreader reel broke the sods into small pieces without shaking
so much soil off the roots and scattered them rather evenly over the

16 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ground. The manure spreader in full gear was driven over the ground
twice, leaving an even covering of small sods on the cultivated soil
and the land was firmly packed immediately.

Favorable rains followed immediately and most of the grass renewed
erowth satisfactorily. The spread was just as fast as that for 4-inch
cubes transplanted 3 feet apart, and the final surface was more
smooth than that for sods set out by hand. :

Successful reestablishment of the grass also resulted from similar
~ methods followed in 1931. However, broadcasting in 1932 and 1933
was followed by dry windy weather which none of the grass survived,
indicating that broadcasting is not a safe practice under all conditions.

TREATMENT AFTER TRANSPLANTING OR BROADCASTING
PACKING THE LAND

After the sods are set out or broadcast, the use of a heavily weighted
surface packer, known as a cultipacker or roller, is essential in securing
a rapid start of the grass and assuring a smooth surface.

IRRIGATION

It is seldom necessary but may be helpful to apply water sparingly
and judiciously. Most of the resodding at this station has been on
dry upland soils without the aid of irrigation. Water has been applied
to a sufficient number of areas to determine the effects of irrigation.
Too much water is decidedly detrimental, as it encourages the com-
petitive development of weeds and less desirable grasses. Where
water is available, a few light and timely irrigations will be helpful in
starting the grass, hastening the spread and maintaining the green
appearance during periods of drought, but it is rarely necessary to
keep the grass alive. When set out on low, poorly drained areas the
erass soon succumbs to an excess of water and is replaced by the less
desirabie taller grasses.

CULTIVATION HARMFUL

Buffalo grass spreads almost entirely by surface runners, which .
should not be disturbed by hoeing or cultivating. The stubble
erowth of weeds and other grasses should be allowed to occupy the
spaces between sods, to control erosion and to permit dust-laden
winds to leave an even coating of wind-deposited soil over the entire
surface. Erosion of cultivated land around the sods and dust col-
lected and held in the leaves of grass cause the final surface to be
rough and unsatisfactory for landscape purposes.

CLIPPING OR PASTURING

At intervals throughout the season clippmg or grazing should be
practiced, to control other growth and to admit sunlight to the grass.
This will not wholly destroy but will reduce competing growth and
leave a stubble over the land sufficient to minimize the roughening
effects of erosion by wind or water. A mowing machine or a high-
cutting lawn mower, cutting at a height of 2 inches, will clip the taller
erasses without unduly injuring the prostrate buffalo grass. Per-
sistent and repeated close clipping of buffalo grass with an ordinary
lawn mower weakens the grass and encourages the inroads of noxious

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 17

weeds. It will, however, withstand closer clipping than Kentucky
bluegrass.

In 1929 certain plots transplanted with 4-inch cubes of buffalo
erass spaced 12 feet apart were kept clipped throughout the season
with a mowing machine for comparison with similar plots not clipped
or pastured. The unclipped areas soon became covered with a rank
erowth of weeds and taller grasses. The clipped grass spread three
times as far as the unclipped in the same length of time.

SWEETCLOVER AS A COMPANION CROP

When properly grazed, sweetclover may be grown continuously
on areas being resodded with buffalo grass, thereby increasing the
total pasturage without seriously interfermg with the spread of the
grass. The sweetclover will not properly reseed itself when severely
overgrazed and will retard the spread of the grass by shading if
allowed to make a rank growth. Continuous stands of sweetclover
have been maintained by natural reseeding on land transplanted with
6-inch squares of sod spaced 12 feet apart in 1929 and 1930. The
stands have been perpetuated for 5 years in the first instance and
4 years in the second and are still vigorous at the present time (1934).

One of these areas, seeded to sweetclover in 1929, was pastured
moderately throughout the 5-year period. The total spread of the
buffalo grass was about one-half that of similar transplanting contain-
ing no sweetclover. Other sweetclover areas seeded in 1929 and 1930
were harvested for hay until 1933, when they were grazed intensively.
The growth of sweetclover was exceedingly heavy during the first
4 years, which severely retarded the spread of the grass. The
latter remained alive, but failed to spread very fast so long as the
sweetclover was providing a dense shade and competing heavily for
moisture, but when the sweetclover was short and after it was har-
vested the grass grew satisfactorily. The total spread on the areas
containing sweeiclover harvested for hay was about one-third of that
on similar areas containing no sweetclover. On the areas that were
closely grazed in 1933 the ‘buffalo grass appeared to recover from the
previous effects of shade and sent out runners as fast as those on the
nonsweetclover areas.

GRADING AND TOP DRESSING

The uneven surfaces caused by wind and water erosion or careless
transplanting may be leveled by grading and top dressing after the
grass has become fully established on lawns, golf courses, or football
fields where a smooth surface is desired. The high spots may be
scraped off with a sharp road grader and depressions eliminated by
periodic applications of a fine layer of soil, being careful not to cover
the leaves entirely. While these precautions are helpful in improving
the landscape value of buffalo grass, they are not necessary and may
be detrimental where it is desired to use the grass for pasture. In the
latter case a rough surface may assist in controlling run-off and con-
serving moisture.

UTILIZATION

Buffalo grass probably has served more useful purposes than any
other domestic grass in North America. The sod was used as building

18 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

material by the early settlers in the Plains area. Many7of these old
sod houses dot the landscape in western Kansas, and a few of them
are still used as residences. :

Virgin stands of this grass have been successfully used for many
years for lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, college campuses, and,
more recently, for airplane landing fields, erosion control, and road-
side improvement. Too many acres of the native prairie were plowed
up and placed under cultivation before the value of buffalo grass
was fully appreciated.

LAWNS OF BUFFALO GRASS

The lawns of buffalo grass have many distinct advantages in the
Great Plains area. Buffalo grass is especially adapted to dry-land
conditions, being the only satisfactory lawn grass able to survive
excessive periods of drought with no irrigation. It requires much
less care and attention than other common lawn grasses and therefore
makes an ideal farm lawn. Kentucky bluegrass when carefully
handled and repeatedly irrigated often fails to survive the dry atmos-
phere and hot summers of the central and southern Plains, and Ber-
muda grass is not winter-hardy in the central and northern Plains.
V. L. Cory ® reports that ‘“‘buffalo grass makes a much better lawn
than curly mesquite grass in Texas.”’ :

Although buffalo grass may be successfully established and main-
tained in the Great Plains without the aid of irrigation, where possible
it will be found helpful to irrigate immediately after the lawn is set
out and during periods of excessive drought thereafter. By judicious
applications of irrigation water a buffalo-grass lawn may be kept
attractive from the first part of May until killing frost occurs in the
fall.

PASTURES

Buffalo grass is a rather low producer, but it is highly nutritious
and an exceedingly palatable pasture grass. Its ability to persist
where most grasses fail, to withstand severe tramping and heavy
erazing, and to recover promptly from the effects of drought contribute
to its value as a pasture crop. When moderately grazed during the -
summer it cures naturally on the ground and provides excellent winter
pasturage.

EROSION PREVENTION

Buffalo grass may be used to advantage in controlling run-off and
erosion on terraced and unterraced slopes. It takes root and spreads
almost as fast on severely eroded land as it does on fertile soil (fig. 11).

According to actual measurements made at this station by the
Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, United States Department of Agricul-
ture, the run-off loss from land having a slope of 5 percent amounted
to 0.04 percent of the annual rainfall on unclipped buffalo grass,
0.59 percent on close-clipped buffalo grass, 15.06 percent on fallow
land, 16.11 percent on kafir land, and 8.84 percent on wheatland as
averages of the 4-year period, 1930-33. The average quantities of
soil lost by erosion during this period were practically negligible on
the buffalo grass, but were 13.64 tons per acre on the fallow land,
13.21 tons on the kafir land, and 2.08 tons on the wheatland.’

6 Range botanist, Texas Range Experiment Station, Sonora, Tex.

- 1 These data were furnished by F. G. Ackerman, of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, U.S. Department
of Agriculture.

METHODS OF REESTABLISHING BUFFALO GRASS 19

ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT

Buffalo orass may be used effectively along hie for protecting
and beautifying the embankments and other well-drained areas
between the roadbed and the fence. It will not grow satisfactorily
in the bottom of the barrow pit but will thrive on the sides if not dis-
turbed by repeated grading. ‘The sides of the barrow pits should be
prepared for transplanting by grading at an angle of 45 degrees or
less to reduce erosion while the grass is becoming established.

SUMMARY

Native buffalo grass is the only grass adapted to the Great Plains
area that may be successfully used for pastures, athletic fields,
golf courses, lawns, and general landscaping purposes. It occurs in
varying degrees of abundance from southeastern Montana and south-

FIGURE 11.—Four-inch cubes of buffalo-grass sod set 3 feet apart on badly eroded land, July 1932. Photo-
graphed in December 1933.

western North Dakota to south-central Texas and from the foothills
of the Rocky Mountains to the ninety-seventh degree of longitude on
the Great Plains.

From 20 to 50 years are required for buffalo grass to become rees-
tablished naturally on abandoned farm land. It is not practical to
establish it by seeding, because seed is difficult and expensive to
collect and of low germination.

Buffalo grass may be propagated by setting out the runners or
stolons in moist soil, but this method is not successful on strictly dry
land. The most practical method where watering is not possible is
to set small pieces of sod in well-prepared soil at intervals of 3 to 4
feet. Solid spacing of sods is practical only for very smal! areas, such
as lawns, where the chief consideration is immediate results,

20 CIRCULAR 328, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

An acre of cultivated land when set out on 4-inch cubes spaced
3 feet apart requires about 2 square rods of sod or a strip 12 inches
wide and 538 feet long.

Buffalo grass has been successfully transplanted every month from
March to August, inclusive, but the best time appears to be in March
and April before spring growth has started and following a heavy
rain. <A 4-inch cube is the most convenient size to handle and the
most efficient in spread.

Four-inch cubes of sod when spaced 1 foot apart covered all inter-
vening spaces the first season, when spaced 2 feet apart the second
, season, and when spaced 3 feet apart before the end of the third season.
Similar sods spaced 6 feet apart made a total cover at the end of the
fifth season.

Extreme care is necessary in grading the land in advance and setting
the sods level with the surface of the ground if it is desired to have the
final surface smooth and even for landscape purposes.

An effective way of planting large areas is to slide pieces of sod in
sheet-iron chutes from wagons to the surface of deeply cultivated land
and press them into the ground with a heavily weighted surface packer.
Packing the land after the sods are set is essential to success.

Buffalo grass spreads largely by surface runners which should not be
disturbed by hoeing or cultivating. Cultivation also encourages
erosion.

Clipping at a height of 2 inches or moderate pasturing at intervals
throughout the season to control other growth and admit sunlight is
beneficial to the spread of buffalo grass.

Sweetclover if properly grazed may be grown ‘qn on areas
being resodded with buffalo grass, thus providing additional pas-
turage while the grass is becoming established.

Top dressing with soil after the grass has become established, to
level the uneven surfaces caused by wind and water erosion, is ad-
visable on lawns and other areas intended for landscape purposes.
The exclusive use of pistillate plants is preferred for lawn purposes.

Buffalo grass may be used to advantage in controlling run-off and
erosion on well-drained sloping land, but it will not withstand pro-
tracted excesses of water on low land.

Buffalo grass ranks high for grazing purposes. Although it is a
rather low producer, it is highly regarded as a nutritious and exceed-
ingly palatable pasture grass, capable of producing excellent summer
and cured winter pasturage.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1934

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - Price 5 cents