DIGEST This bulletin reports some of the studies conducted with Dallisgrass and pasture mixtures containing Dallisgrass in Texas during the past 20 years. The studies reported include early observations on adaptation, establishment, yield and forage quality, response to fertilization, utilization by livestock and seed production. Dallisgrass is a good quality forage plant that grows well in association with Bermuda- grass and white clover. It is a perennial bunch grass introduced into the United States from South America. Dallisgrass is adapted to Gulf Coast and East and Central Texas areas receiving 35 inches or more annual rainfall. It grows best on clay and loam soils that are moist, but not wet, and are high in organic matter, but will grow on most soils in these areas. Dallisgrass is difficult to establish primarily because of poor seed quality and slow germination. Satisfactory stands can be obtained in the rice belt by broadcasting seed in standing rice following the last flooding, or in rice stubble. Such plantings should be made between October 1 and November 15. Best results have been obtained in other areas of Texas by planting good quality seed on prepared seedbeds in late winter and early spring. Good results have been obtained in soils heavily infested with weeds by drilling Dallisgrass seed between oat rows in late winter, but care should be taken to eliminate the oat competition early in the spring. Seeding rates should be based on a knowledge of the quality of the seed being planted. ’ Forage production and qu.ality depend largely on soil type, fertility and moisture. Yields in excess of 10,000 pounds of air-dry forage per acre with irrigation are reported. Average yields without irrigation would usually range from 2,000 to 6,000 pounds of air-dry forage per acre annually. Dallisgrass is usually not grown alone, but in association with Bermuda and one or more legumes, where it makes a significant contribution to the mixture. Dallisgrass responds to fertilization in both quantity and quality of forage. Actual fertilization practices should depend on the soil type, fertility and moisture. Dallisgrass makes fair quality hay either after a seed crop has been harvested or before the seed mature. Care should be taken in harvesting and feeding seed hay that contains a high amount of ergot because of the danger of ergot poisoning. Seed yields and caryopsis content of seed material of Dallisgrass usually are low. Seed quality (percentage caryopses) usually is better in the spring and early summer before daily maximum temperatures exceed 85 to 90° F. and daily relative humidities drop below 40 to 50 percent. Seed quality in July, August and early September is likely to be very low. An early spring application of nitrogen (60 pounds of nitrogen per acre) has resulted in significant increases in seed yields in June. Seed quality is not significantly influenced by the use of nitrogen. Dallisgrass seed may be harvested by direct combining or by mowing, windrowing and combining from windrow. Combine-run seed should be dried before storing. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Marvin E. Riewe furnished data on pastures at the Darrington Prison Farm, R. C. Potts data on yield and chemical composition of grasses at the Brazos River Valley Laboratory and F. L. Vavra assisted in the collection of much of the forage and seed data. Results of other experimental work on Dallisgrass in Texas have been used as shown in the literature citations. The seed production research was supported in part by funds made available by the Field Crops Research Branch, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland. p‘ l S, Paspalum dilatatum Poir., is recog- '_ of the more desirable forage species 5- ' id parts of Texas and the Southern t produces good quality forage, grows yociation with Bermudagrass and white fits well into farming system rota- illisgrass is a perennial, native to North- tina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil. It - leaves, a deep, strong root system and clumps or bunches 2 to 4 feet high. grow near the base, but few grow ms. The stems are weak and spread- ' erect unless in dense stands or sup- r other grasses. It continues growth z: e fall and starts growth earlier in the _,n'most warm-season grasses. Figure he type of growth made by Dallisgrass. A (14) recorded planting of Dallisgrass t Texas as early as 1875. Other re- indicate that it was first introduced nited States in the vicinity of New Or- isiana. It was given the name of Dal- . T. Dallis of LaGrange, Georgia, who ithusiastic proponent of the grass around ADAPTATION ,1 United States, Dallisgrass is adapted lly the same area as the cotton plant, 1 t it does not spread west of the humid ,rtion of Texas. While it occurs on ‘rtypes of soil, it grows best on clay and f: that are moist, but not wet, and where atter is abundant. It requires a higher 'ty than Bahia and carpetgrass. work with Dallisgrass and its distrib- Texas shows the area of adaptation to 3' that shown in Figure 2. Work at An- f» 1931 to- 1937 showed the superiority rass over native sod. This work dem- the ability of Dallis to grow during the gnd during warm periods in the winter. ork was carried on at Beaumont from .940 and Dallis performed satisfactorily. “ vational plantings at Nacogdoches and rom 1932 to 1939 showed Dallis to be in that area. lisgrass was planted at Denton in 1929- lmorhea, 1932-35, and at Beeville, 1941- DALLISGRASS ETHAN C. HOLT, Associate Professor Department of Agronomy 42, but poor results were obtained. Difficulty was encountered in obtaining and maintaining stands in these areas, and it was concluded that Dallis was not adapted to them. Observations and research in more recent years indicated that Dallis production is not prof- itable west of the 35-inch rainfall belt except along streams, ditches and in areas where extra water is received. Dallisgrass will grow in South and South- west Texas with irrigation, but generally does not produce as much as better adapted species (5). Comparative yields of Dallisgrass and other CONTENTS Page Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Z Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Seed Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Seeding and Cultural Practices . . . . . . . . 4 Companion Crops and Mulches . . . . . . . 5 Forage Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Pure Stand Yields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Response to Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Beaumont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 College Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Brazos River Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Nacogdoches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8 Chemical Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Phosphoric Acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Seed Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Culture and Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ll Seed Yields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 College Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Winter Garden . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Seed Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 College Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Winter Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Climatic Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 TABLE 1. FORAGE YIELD OF IBRIGATED PERENNIAL WARM-SEASON GRASSES IN THE WINTER GARDEN AREA. 1952-53 Pounds of air-dry forage per acre SP°°i°s 1952 1959 Average Dallis 0000 100160 9040 Coastal Bermuda 13280 27790 20530 B01191 10190 22000 19100 Blue panic 13920 23290 18600 species are shown in Table 1. Dallis does not seem to have the production potential necessary for an irrigated grass in this area. Disease and physiological problems that are not common in other areas also are encountered. Loss of stands has been encountered in experimental plots that was traced to a disease but the causal organism has not been identified. Dallisgrass also may show chlorotic effects while adjacent plots of other species remain healthy. ESTABLISHMENT Seed Quality The establishment of Dallisgrass has been a problem since its introduction. Research in re- cent years shows that much of the difficulty in establishment can be traced to poor seed quality Figure 1. A plot ot Dallisgrass showing growth habit and seeding characteristics. t: and improper date of planting. Owens (7) in Louisiana found that Dallis seed dropped in ger mination from 70 to 32 percent when stored f0 12 months in the laboratory. Storage for an ads ditional 12 months resulted in a germination 0 only 6 percent. Under conditions of high temp perature and high humidity, loss of viability ma be even more rapid. Limited experience by th author has indicated that seed stored through th summer in Central and South Texas are likel to be extremely low in viability. Such seed shoul be tested for germination before planting seeding rates should be adjusted on the basis 0 seed quality. Seed of unknown or questionabl quality should be tested just prior to planting. Seeding and Cultural Practices In the rice growing area of the Gulf Coas of Texas, good stands of Dallis may be obtain_ by broadcasting seed in the standing rice follow ing the last flooding or in rice stubble withouf seedbed preparation. Such plantings should 1e between October 1 and November 15. Earlief seedings encounter disease problems and late seedings may be killed by frost. The Rice-Passl ture Experiment Station at Beaumont harvest seed with a combine from pastures and used th seed, following cleaning, to establish pasture ply (12). Broadcast seedings at the rate ,lnds per acre in rice by airplane in mid- grave-good results. lnteer stands of Dallisgrass-clover have lrved in rotation with rice at the Rice- Istation (13). Areas which had been in g to 3 years were planted to rice in 1950. ring and summer of 1951, volunteer Dal- Nvas observed, amounting to one plant e foot, in areas which had been flooded fge Water from adjacent rice fields. This Unusually dry season. These results sug- Dallisgrass can be expected to» volunteer one rice crop in the eastern part of the 5,; belt in seasons of average or higher or if irrigated. Clovers have been ob- volunteer each fall and winter follow- le crop, provided the plants are allowed f, seed in the spring before preparing ail-seeding. i ‘influence of degree of seedbed prepara- zg-establishment of Dallis and Bermuda in it Texas (1) is shown in Table 2. The lractices were light disking, heavy disk- breaking and cultipacking, and no till- area received a 30-60-30 fertilizer be- ing. As the intensity of tillage increas- gpercentage ground cover of Dallis and f} increased and native grasses decreased. fcates that seedbed preparation, or at least ithe seed in firm contact with the soil, is ‘L for good establishment. impanion Crops and Mulches Iching with straw or using seed hay gives ults with grasses in general where stands icult to obtain. The use of straw mulch e is too expensive to- be followed in pas- blishment. Drilling grass seed in dead jplanted specifically to provide ground as successful in establishing stands with tjcies. Studies (4) involving date of plant- is the use of straw mulch, dead stubble and fion crops along with a clean seedbed for g stands of Dallisgrass, are recorded in and 4. a results presented in Table 3 indicate lit- for straw mulch. Weed competition was factor in preventing stand establish- w was surface soil moisture. Straw mulch Figure 2. Area 1 is the general area of adaptation of Dallisgrass in Texas. Dallisgrass also will do well in area 2 on soils receiving extra water, such as creek bottoms. was not effective in reducing weed competition. The results obtained differed at each location, and it is assumed that specific soil conditions and planting practices will significantly influence the procedure to be used. i Seedings were made on Lufkin fine sandy loam and Miller clay soil with a Hancock drill equipped with double disk openers and depth bands. Alternate seed boxes were used so that 20-inch rows resulted. Dallis seeding rates were adjusted to give 1.5 pounds of pure live seed per acre. Actual amounts of seed material varied from 5 to 20 pounds per acre because of varia- tions in germination. Best results were obtained on Lufkin soil when Dallis was drilled between the 20-inch oat rows in the fall or in oats or crim- son clover in early spring. Fall-planted sorghum and cowpeas made insufficient growth to be of value, and no crop remained the following spring. Results with these treatments are equivalent to spring planting on an unprepared seedbed with no crop litter present. The Lufkin soil used for this test was heav- ily infested with Brachiaria extensa, a weedy an- j EFFECTS OF TILLAGE PRACTICES ON ESTABLISHING PASTURE GRASSES ON NATIVE SOD. KIRBYVILLE, 1951 l Percent ground cover. December 3. 1951 - ctice Dallis- Bermuda- Carpet- Native W d5 Total grass grass grass grasses ee vegetation 0 0.2 0.7 18.1 s 3.1 22.7 'ng 1.0 0.3 1.6 18.0 7.7. 28.3 king 3.2 14.4 0.3 7.2 2.0 27.1 'ng and cultipacking 5.5 27.6 1.6 3.7 1.8 40.2 7 2.2 11.3 — 5.4 4.6 4.7 i’ due to chance. W tence in ground cover must equal or exceed the amount shown to give odds "of 19 to 1 that such difference is real 5 -i;-.-=-¢-¢»~.1>=t~ =..-~.n-,-w.g_.~. _- . ..... -._ .- ..-.-_, TABLE 3. PERCENTAGE GROUND COVER OF DALLISGRASS SEEDED WITH VARIOUS COMPANION CROPS NEAR C l LEGE STATION AND NACOGDOCHES. 1951-52 b College Station Nacogdoches Companion crop Iuuikin fine sandy loam soil Miller clay soil Nacogdoches clay loam A1 B1 A B A B None 45 37 45 '29 10 72 Straw? 30 23 44 48 12 50 Sorghum 38 24 45 56 28 53 Cowpeas 35 25 39 49 32 25 Dixie Wonder peas 48 23 43 28 37 20 Oats 61 62 43 36 17 32 Crimson clover 47 48 38 34 — — 1A—Companion crops and Dallis seeded in the fall. B—Companion crop fall-seeded, Dallis spring-seeded. zSawdust was used at Nacogdoches. nual grass, and oats and crimson clover were ef- fective in reducing weed competition (Figure 3). Even though these crops continued to grow late ' enough in the spring to compete with the Dallis seeding, this competition was less than that from the weedy grass, and Dallisgrass was able to be- come established (Figure 4). On the Miller clay soil where weed competi- tion was less a factor, treatment differences were relatively small. Evidently the competition cre- ated by the companion crops was about equal to that from weeds on plots having no companion crop. In 1952-53, when weed competition Was small, significantly better stands were obtained in the absence of companion crops, but best re- sults were obtained in 1953-54 with oats as a companion crop (Table 4). The results at Nacogdoches (Table 3) indi- cate that best stands can be obtained in this area prepared check plot (left) on Iune 9. weed growth in the check plot. 6 Notice the heavy from spring seeding on prepared seedbeds. T plots were seeded with hand equipment and t! seed could not be put into the soil on unprepary plots (Dixie wonder peas and oats). Even thoug weed competition was a serious problem on p10 having no companion crop, the ability to pla the seed in firm contact with the soil was e y dently a greater factor than the weed compet tion. Fall planting was not effective at Naco doches because seedlings emerging during ti winter were winter-killed. Results of a date-of-seeding study at Collef i Station are given in Table 4. These data indica a that Dallis may be seeded in this latitude almo‘ anytime from mid-October to mid-April with fa’ w results. In most instances, fall seedings of D, lisgrass do not emerge until later because of la A of soil moisture. Emergence has been noted i mid-winter, at which time seedlings are likely f be winter-killed. For this reason, late winter an early spring seedings are recommended. I The data in Tables 3 and 4 are given in pep centage ground cover in the row. None of t Q values approach 100 percent. However, with t growth habit and reseeding ability of Dallisgras‘ a solid ground cover is not necessary for t! forage production. i FORAGE PRODUCTION Pure Stand Yields A number of warm-season grasses W g grown in pure stands at College Station on Lu- kin fine sandy loam from 1943 through 194, Yields of three species in this test are given a Table 5. Lufkin soil is generally too drouthy a, TABLE 4. PERCENTAGE STAND OF DALLISGRASS _ VARIOUS SEEDING DATES AND COMPANII CROPS NEAR COLLEGE STATION ON MIL _ CLAY SOIL. 1953-54 1 Companion Date of seeding A 4L. CrOp 10-15-55 2-15-54 4-15-54 "°'“9"( None 25 2o ea 5a f Berseem 38 12 5 18 Oats 75 60 55 63 Average 46 31 43 f. fertility for Dallis to do well on it. iiannual yields of hay exceeded 4,000 acre during this test. However, yields [ch year of the test until Dallis pro- ;y 1,900 pounds of forage per acre in ts of a test at the Brazos River Valley near College Station on Miller clay 8, are presented in Table 5. Other 0t shown but which were included in ilwere Common Bermuda, Ribbed paspa- Ranch bluestem and blue panic. Dal- slwas among the highest yielding species year and also gave satisfactory results year. The 1948 season was too dry 7grasses to do well, and this was especi- ‘ifor Dallis since it does best in a moist performance of Dallisgrass at Prairie 30) on Hockley fine sand is given in I The test area received a 20-40-20 fer- 1951 and 100 pounds per acre of nitro- three applications in 1952. Dallisgrass only half as much forage as Coastal Ber- fthis test, but almost as much as Common A Because of its adaptation to use in jwith Bermudagrass, it should be con- {bvhen summer grass mixtures are used. f. lts of a test at Kirbyville (1), in which ins of Dallisgrass were used, are given T'7‘. These strains were developed by the Agricultural Experiment Station and is available commercially. Strain 430 ess in the spring than Coastal Bermuda, "ut the same in the summer and fall. iiwas faster starting in the spring than 30. Dallisgrass has not compared as with Bermuda farther north in Texas. ‘roduced 5,300 pounds of air-dry forage l at Mt. Pleasant in 1943 and Common tal Bermuda produced 9,600 and 13,400 respectively. However, this test was on nd which is better adapted to Bermuda '0n than to Dallis. p use of winter annual crops on Dallis- sod in the Gulf Coast area shows some ty (9). This practice has an advantage ter annuals on prepared seedbed in that Tjis possible sooner after rains. Oats seed- Yor20-inch rows at the Angleton station, Qped regularly throughout the growing ftreduced the yield of Dallis-Bermuda in ,0 t yields were satisfactory the remainder AVERAGE ANNUAL YIELD or WARM-SEASON GHASSES NEAR COLLEGE STATION Pounds oi air-dry forage per aicre Lufkin fine sandy Miller clay soil. loam soil. 1943-46 1946-48 4700 4160 t 2060 —— 5000 —- t; rmuda —- 3710 -- 5650 Figure 4. Dallisgrass: established in rows. of the summer. If the oats were allowed to ma- ture without clipping, the sod was severely dam- aged or killed. Response ‘to Fertilization Beaumont Some early soil fertility work at Beaumont with light rates of fertilization shows that Dallisgrass responds well to fertilization. The work was done with a Dallis-carpet-white clover mixture. When no fertilizer was applied, forage production over the 6-year period, 1935-1940, av- eraged 1,620 pounds per acre. This yield was in- creased to 2,960 pounds when 32 pounds of phos- phoric acid (P205) per acre were applied annu- ally. The marked response to phosphorus was no doubt due to the presence of white clover in the mixture. There was a further increase to 3,220 pounds per acre with the addition of 16 pounds of nitrogen annually. Applications of nitrogen in such small increments are not now generally recommended for grasses. Figure 5 shows a mixture of Dallisgrass and white hop and Persian clover on the plots at Beaumont. College Station The response of Dallisgrass to different fer- . tilizer treatments on Lufkin fine sandy loam soil at College Station is shown in Figure 6. Good yields were obtained in 1943 and 1944, but there was not much response to fertilization until 1946. Phosphorus increased yields the first 3 years and nitrogen with phosphorus further increased yields in 1943. The treatments were not applied an- TABLE 6. FORAGE YIELD OF WARM-SEASON GRASSES AT PRAIRIE VIEW, 1952 Powands of air-drv forage per acre q. 9 ' hp mes lune 6 Iuly 16 Sept. 4 Total Dallis 4090 1470 5560 Coastal Bermuda 4530 5120 2590 12240 Common Bermuda 2550 2470 1200 6220 King Ranch bluestem —— 1650 2690 4340 a _ ,. .., -,... .4. ..-_ ...<_ _. - .__.._-..' < .—_._= .....¢_.~ .1 >5lZ<'-_4L4' .~;Ln.___-_1__.~_¢v~» ~ 11m...- -_-__=' - _a_‘_- TABLE 7. FORAGE YIELD OF WARM-SEASON GRASSES AT KIRBYVILLE. 1951 Pounds oi air-dry forage per acre Species May 5 Iune 18 Iuly 30 Aug. 31 Sept. 29 Nov. 16 Total Dallis B230 300 ——-- 800 300 1100 180 2680 Dallis 430 290 —— 1070 420 1660 255 3695 Coastal Bermuda 1340 Z60 1000 440 960 515 4515 Common Bermuda 55 —— 725 230 270 405 ~ 1685 nually in this test. In 1946 when nitrogen was common lespedeza-white clover mixture (6 reapplied, the combination of nitrogen and phos- Twenty-four treatments were used, including p phorus gave satisfactory results. Normally both possible combinations of 0, 30, 60 and 90 poun, nitrogen and phosphorus are needed on this soil of nitrogen (N), (ammonium nitrate, 33.5 pé for good plant growth. These results indicate cent); 0, 6O and 90 pounds of phosphoric aci that annual applications of nitrogen are neces- (superphosphate, 20 percent); and 0 and p sary for best results. Two or more applications pounds of potash (K20), (muriate of potash, annually are» preferred. percent), per acre. These materials were disk, _ into a well-prepared seedbed. The area was '1, 13111208 1111101 V11110Y _ ed broadcast in March 1949 with a mixture of Dallisgrass shows response to fertilization P01111118 0f 60111111011 13011111111081088, 29 P01111118 . even on fertile soil. Yields were increased from 110111821088 01111 99 P01111118 0f 00111111011 1_08P0110 5,000 to over 8,000 pounds per acre in 1946 on per ecre- The S011 Wes packed flrmly Wlth a c Miller clay soil by the addition of nitrogen and 11P0_01101‘ 01101‘ 800111118- T110 0100 W08 0110039 phosphorus (Figure 7). Yields were more than 011 111 13110 1.011 0f 1949 W1t11 2 P01111118 01 W111. doubled in 1947 and 194s by the addition of nitro- clever per acre- The ccmplete fertlllzer ‘tree. gen. Phosphorus alone gave very little increase 1110111 W08 _1'0P00t011 011 00011 P1013 _08 10111110881118; over no fertilizer. In combination with nitrogen, 1110 1010 W111t01 0f 1949 01111 020111 111 1959- phosphorus gave no increase over nitrogen alone. Even though the yields were more than doubled . . . j _ in 1948, all were extremely low because of dry 9g??? 1.11 1112932)’ 4 2111152? and 3 m 1951'} ' weather. These results show, however, that a m tan 1 d was near norma ’ ' grasses will respond to fertilization even during was an 9X reme y ry year‘ Data were obtained from 11 clippings of f0 0X101111011 1110111113’ 0011111110118 Table 8 shows the benefits of using nit l, gen or phosphorus, alone and in combination, Nac°gd°°hes the yield of dry forage. The greatest returns A fertilizer factorial test was conducted at pounds of forage per acre resulted from the ‘e Nacogdoches in 1949-51 with a Dallis-Bermuda- 120-60 combination—9O pounds of nitrogen, 1 Figure 5. A Dallisgrass and white, hop and Persian clover mixture at Beaumont. 8000 .===. No treatment 1 N0 -fertilizer 8° 1°" PZ°5 1000 - 8010s. P 0 s4 lbs. u 8o lbs N2 5 ‘b8, _ :§';Ef»;i 8o ‘b8. 801118. N 5000 ' 4000 ' 3000 - 2000 - I000 ' I943 I944 I945 I946 6'. Response of Dallisgrass to various fertilizer 1' on Luflcin fine sandy loam. College Station. Treat- __‘_ge applied in 1943 and N reapplied in 1946. |946 ]947 A |948 Pounds 0ir dry forage per acre of Phosvhfllfic aciihend 60 pgugdi. o; Pff- ......‘§;2;"r..1~...*;:::g.e. aiiiri.231:1‘:::.."2:12;:“§r.1.:.1 aacre annua y. 1s was no s a 1s 1ca y ' jig-than the yield produced by the 90-60-0 ftion and, _until further work is done, the pounds of nitrogen without phosphorus and pot- §’5'¢°mb111at10n is Tewmmended f0? maXi- ash) gave a fertilizer cost 0f only $4.20 per ton, ifit in this area- even thmlgh 911191‘ lfreat" the net return per acre for the year Was only gllroduced mom tPtal fwage- 61011111111911 $7 .70. This was due to a relatively low yield. +511c11 a 0011111111311011 111011311113’ W111 hasten In contrast, the 90-60-0 application gave a net re- when the need for potash will be Criti- turn of $23.05 per acre annually even though the cost per ton of forage ($13.02) was greater. The I - (3051; per ton 0f dry forage produced is 90-60-0 combination returned $2.31 fOI‘ every (101- jven in Table 8. Although 30-0-0 (30 lar spent for fertilizer. f, SUMMARY OF FERTILIZER WORK WITH A DALLIS-BERMUDA-LEGUME MIXTURE NEAR NACOGDOCHES. 1949-51 Cost of fertilizer Net return on Treatments. Average annua P l Irigiicésee 31th:)“ Annua_1_cost of to produce a ton fertilizer . lbs. per acre lbs. dry forage treatment fert1l1zer1 0101-116X) 132:3; ecilvter investment2 Phocfggofic Potash Per acre Per acre Per acre $ Per acre 0 0 21803 0 60 2180 0 $ 3.00 0.00 —$ 3.00 60 0 2500 320 4.80 30.64 — ,, .06 60 60 2600 420 7.80 21.47 _ - 1.45 120 0 2790 610 9.60 31.30 — .32 120 60 2640 460 12.60 55.59 — 5.64 0 0 2970 790 4.20 10.68 7.70 0 60 2770 ' 590 7.20 24.77 1.73 60 0 3150 970 9.00 18.62 5.68 60 60 3180 1000 12.00 24.00 3.13 120 0 3230 - 1050 13.80 26.37 2.09 120 60 3650 p 1470 16.80 22.91 5.44 0 0 0540 1000 0.40 I 12.05 12.10 0 60 2540 360 11.40 64.53 — 5.95 60 . 0 4080 1900 13.20 ' 13.94 15.55 6.0 60 3650 1470 16.20 22.09 6.04 120 0 3830 1650 18.00 21.86 6.96 120 60 3850 1670 21.00 25.20 4.27 0 0 3600 1420 12.60 17.75 8.88 0 60 4190 2010 15.60 7 15.55 14.81 60 0 4860 2680 - p 17.40 13.02 23.15 60. 60 4870 2690 20.40 I 15.15 20.35 120 0 4810 2630 22.20 16.90 . 17.59 .0 120 60 5030 2850 25.20 17.70 17.92 usilngflammcatniurrti nitrate, 33 percent nitrogen; superphosphate. 20 percent P205; and muriate of potash, 60 percent ‘To; Qsupp y e nu nen s. a i {was valued at $35 per ton. Cost of baling and hauling was considered to __be $4.74 per ton. 1 es of 314 and 419 pounds of forage per acre required for significance at the .05 and .01 levels, respectively. 0 Protein Phosphoric ocid ne- . - ‘ Dallisgrass mf- __ Coastal Bermuda 2'4’ 2 ‘” ’ I 2 I2 "-7 E ' I 2 2 ‘$151 “@- 1 2 2 255i 11?: =6 == 3 ~ ; 2 2 :':':': .3 210- 2 2 2 -.s <> ° 2 2 2 '5 a, i =2; g g .111 y; v8 2 2_— 2 :::: -.4 g +3 2 2 2 =~ 6 2 Z22 . ' _ 3 2 2 - 2 '3 3» a? ' 2 2 I 2 2 ‘t . 2 1 2 =2 8 . 2 2 ' 2 o 2 2 ' 2 '5, = 2 2 2 2 --- - e/s 9/15 11/12 e/s 9/15 1:112 Dates Figure 8. Protein and phosphoric acid content of irri- gated warm season grasses, Winter Garden area, 1953. Chemical Composition The chemical composition, or nutrient value, of forage varies with many factors such as spe- cies, stage of growth, type and fertility of soil, soil moisture and season. Two important constit- uents "of the forage are protein and phosphoric acid. Forage containing less than 6.0 percent protein and .33 percent phosphoric acid is consid- ered deficient for cattle maintenance. Protein The average protein and phosphoric acid con- tents of Dallisgrass were reported in earlier Tex- as Agricultural Experiment Station publications (2,3). Results of a test on Lufkin fine sandy loam soil near College Station (Table 9) show that the level of protein in the forage varies with the sea- son and that proper fertilization is effective in maintaining a satisfactory protein level. In a 3- year period on upland soil, the protein content of fertilized Dallis dropped only once below 6.0 per- cent. The fertilizer was applied the year pre- ceding this 3-year period and again in the final year of the period. Results in Figure 8 show that with good moisture and fertility conditions, the protein con- TABLE 9. PROTEIN CONTENT OF DALLISGRASS FORAGE AS INFLUENCED BY SEASON AND FERTILIZA- TION ON LUFKIN FINE SANDY LOAM SOIL. COLLEGE STATION, 1944-46 Percentage crude protein Year Treatmentl Early Late S F u spring spring ummer a 1944 Not fertilized 7.24 7.55 5.66 8.08 Fertilized 8.25 7.65 8.43 9.31 1945 Not fertilized 10.98 6.38 7.95 6.00 Fertilized 11.18 7.04 8.85 6.30 1946 Not fertilized -—— 5.90 4.93 7.04 Fertilized —— 6.38 5.62 7.42 lFertilized with 64-80-0 in 1943 and 64-0-0 in 1946. 10 TABLE 10. PHOSPHORIC ACID CONTENT OF DALLlS-lj GRASS FORAGE AS INFLUENCED BY SEASO; FERTILIZATION AND SOILS “i Percentage phosphoric acid; Years and soil Treatment Early Late . . Summer -- ' spring spring 1946-47, Miller clay Not fertilized — .47 .48 .48 Fertilized — .46 .40 .49 , 1944-46, Lufkin fine Not fertilized .26 .22 .24 .28 ” sandy loam Fertilized .36 .29 .33 .36 tent can be held at a higher level throughout the; growing season (5). Other grasses in the test had higher protein contents, but that of Dallis- grass was satisfactory. ‘ Phosphoric Acid Where Dallisgrass was grown on Miller clay. soil, which is high in available phosphorus, thei use of fertilizer did not influence the phosphoric acid content of the forage (Table 10). However, on Lufkin fine sandy loam soil, which is low phosphoric acid, the use of fertilizer caused a1 marked increase in the phosphoric acid content of the forage. Phosphoric acid content of thél forage from treated plots on deficient soil was“ greater than that from untreated plots 4 years; following the application of 80 pounds of phos-g phoric acid per acre. When grown under conditions of good mois- ture and fertility (Figure 8), Dallisgrass con- tains a fair to good level of phosphoric acid (5).? UTILIZATION Pasture Since Dallisgrass normally is not grown 1i pure stands, cattle performance data from pur Dallisgrass is not available. In 1942, the Angl TABLE 11. PERFORMANCE or HEIFERS ON NATIVE A i IMPROVED PASTURES AT ANGLETON. MARC 21. 1914s TO MAY so. 1914s. 42s DAYS * Type of pasture Native Improve Total days pastured ~ 5225 5636 Number of heifers per pasture 12 l2. __ Averages in pounds per heifer: 5f Initial weight, March 21. 1945 466 468 Final weight, May 30, 1946 685 893 a j Gain, pounds 219 425 5i Feeds fed December 1945 to April 19-46, pounds: Cottonseed meal, 43% protein 161 -—— Corn chops 78 —- _i Prairie hay 866 623 Bonemeal 19 —— *1" Salt ’ 8 8 Costs per heifer, 3/ 21 / 45 to 5/30/ 46: Cost @ $13.50 cwt. 3/21/45 $62.91 $63.18 a Land rent, 435 days 3.96 3.96; Cost of winter feedl 15.45 5.41 i Total cost, no charge for pasture treatments $83.32 $72.55 -i Cost per cwt. to 5/ 30/ 46, no charge for pasture treatment $12.02 $ 8.12 ,- Per acre cost of treatments, including mowing, to 5/ 30/ 46 i- $19.44 ‘ lFeed prices per ton: cottonseed cake, $58.20; corn chof $68; prairie hay, $17.09; loonemeal, $66; salt,_ $22. L rent @ $1.00 per acre per year. Each mowing. $1.00 per acr’ 2. cow AND CALF PERFORMANCE ON NATIVE AND IMPROVED PASTURE ON DARRINGTON PRISON FARM NEAR ANGLETON. 195s ;f__ ' Type of pasture “f1 - n Native Improvedl oi acres 700 300 Clot cows ' 80 80 of calves 50 65 f} ‘of crossbred calves i; eford x Brahman) 20 45 of Brahman calves 30 20 age of calves on September 15 201 days 202 days ‘weight oi calves on Sept. 15 370 416 1' weight of crossbred calves 411 430 ' weight oi Brahman calves 342 387 ight of all calves on Sept. 15 18.485 27,070 ed. fertilized with 0-100-0 in fall 1950 and seeded to ass and white clover. set up a number of pastures to study y for improving pastures on Lake Charles 911). The land at that time was in native pasture. Grazing results for two of iipastures from March 21, 1945 to May 30, pre given in Table 11. The native pasture is: no treatment. The improved pasture _wed, disked, drained and seeded with 2.6 of white clover, 2.5 pounds of common ‘Liza, 6.2 pounds of Dallisgrass and 2.9 f} of Bermudagrass per acre. One hundred per acre of phosphoric acid were worked fe soil during the preparation. This pas- eceived no further treatment during the Kased on the Weights taken May 30, 1946, were 2,500 pounds more cattle weight in F‘ proved pasture than in the native pasture. i. proved pasture also could have supported ééthan 12 heifers during the spring and sum- j e cost per ound live Weight of the im- -ast re eifers o a , 1nc u - y purchase price, . o re ; and supp e- feed, as shown in Table 11, was consider- power than for the native-pasture heifers. also carried more live weight. The cost of fie improvement per acre, based on 1942 ‘Jalso is shown in the table. This cost should _ ributed among the cattle over several calf i depending on the period of effective re- to treatment. These data also show that A of Dallisgrass, Bermudagress, white clover [losphoric acid is an effective means of im- g pastures in this area. less comprehensive set of data from a recent test near the Angleton station is giv- Table 12. The improved pasture had very §iwhite clover in it and was almost a pure grass pasture. Even though the two pas- had different numbers of crossbred and 1.. calves, with differences in their growth jthere is no doubt that the improved pasture W‘ perior. Hay . allisgrass is not used extensively for hay 7tion, but it does make good yields of fair d hay. Hay yields following the harvesting TABLE 13. YIELD OF DALLISGRASS HAY FOLLOWING SPRING SEED CROP ON MILLER CLAY SOIL NEAR COLLEGE STATION. 1953-54 paunds of nitmgen Pounds of hay per acre per acre 1953 1954 Average 0 4180 1110 2640 30 5810 1510 3660 60 6560 2470 4510 120 7090 3510 5300 LSD1 900 ' 820 lDitferences in yield must equal or exceed the amount shown to give odds oi 19 to 1 that such difference is real and not due to chance. of a spring seed crop at the Brazos River Valley Laboratory are given in Table 13. The grass was grown in rows in this test, and yields are higher than normally might be expected from stands as they usually occur in pastures. Dallisgrass hay containing seed heads usu- ally has some seed infected with ergot and ergot poisoning may result when seed hay is fed to cat- tle. However, it may be cut for hay before seed are set to avoid much of the danger from ergot. Dallisgrass with seed should be threshed or com- bined before baling or storing the straw to re- move the ergot-infected seed. This practice would reduce the danger of ergot poisoning and also would give some seed which could be cleaned and used for seeding. ' SEED PRODUCTION Culture and Fertilization Dallisgrass seed yields generally are low and seed quality is poor. Poor seed quality has been attributed to the presence of ergot on the inflo- rescence. Other species show a marked response in yields to the application of fertilizers, particu- larly nitrogen, and to cultural practices, such as planting in rows and cultivating. Figure 9 shows a row planting of Dallisgrass for seed production. Seed production studies were initiated in the Win- ter Garden area in 1950. Since this is an area of low relative humidity, it was thought that the ergot problem would be less severe and thus seed Figure 9. A row seeding of Dallisgrass for seed production. 11 - ..~‘.-¢....... . .. n._».-»a'».--._~.._. .; _-. , y . - 4w", a ' -. _ _ . “u... --¢..-_~m,-.=...-........ a- a5. -- gen. TABLE 14. SEED YIELD OF DALLISGRASS NEAR COLLEGE STATION ON MILLER CLAY SOIL. 1952-53 Pounds of seed per acre Pounds oi per acre Aug. 28 Nov. 14 Total Iune 18 Aug. 16 Total 0 162 39 201 81 75 156 30 131 40 171 91 54 145 60 120 46 166 128 39 167 120 102 46v 148 146 25 171 Average 129 43 172 111 48 159 quality better. Failure to obtain good quality seed in this area led to studies at College Station involving the relationship of climatic factors to seed set and the influence of cultural practices on seed yields and quality. These studies are re- ported in the sections that follow. i Seed Yields College Station: A study involving cultiva- tion and rates of nitrogen as they influence seed yield and quality has been conducted for 2 years near College Station. The test was planted in 40-inch rows on Miller clay soil and was irrigated twice in 1952 and none in 1953. Cultivation had no influence on seed yield or quality and is not shown in the tables. Results of the yield test are given in Table 14. In the year of establishment, there was- some reduction in yield with the nitro- gen treatments. Miller clay is a fertile soil and in this case needed no additional nitrogen to sup- port the grass. In 1953, nitrogen increased yields of the first crop but decreased yields of the sec- ond crop, so that total yields were not signifi- cantly influenced by rates of nitrogen. In this case, half the nitrogen was applied in early spring and the other half was applied following the first seed harvest. These results indicate that a spring seed crop can be produced profitably with nitro- Almo-st as much seed were produced from the first harvest with 60 pounds of nitrogen (146 pounds) as were produced on the check plot at both harvests (156 pounds). Additional work is being done to determine the factors involved which cause one harvest to be increased by nitro- gen and the next to be decreased. Winter Garden: The tests in the Winter Garden area have been conducted with irriga- tion. Table 15 shows the results of seeding Dal- lis in 18 and 36-inch rows with the use of various nitrogen treatments. Good seed yields were ob- tained in most cases. There was no marked re- TABLE 15. AVERAGE SEED YIELDS OF DALLISGRASS AS INFLUENCED BY VARIOUS TREATMENTS IN THE WINTER GARDEN AREA. 1950-511 pounds of nitrogen Pounds of seed per acre per acre 18-inch rows 36-inch rows Average 0 183 181 182 60 225 199 212 120 174 158 166 180 171 144 158 240 174 168 171 Average 185 170 178 lSeed crops were harvested August 25 and November 7. 1950: Iune 12 and October 5. 1951. 12 TABLE 16. SEED YIELDS AND QUALITY OF DALLISGRA ‘ AS INFLUENCED BY FERTILIZERS AND IRRIGA TION IN THE WINTER GARDEN AREA. IULY 1952 Pounds oi seed Percentage Pounds per acre per acre caryopses _ _ Stage of final Stage ot final Nfim- Phosrgerls irrigation irrigation a gen am Boot Bloom Mature Boot Bloom Matur None 80 160 320 6.7 7.8 5.9 l 60 80 120 310 4.4 5.5 6.7 f 60 90 110 330 5.9 6.1 6.1 ‘ 60 60 60 130 280 6.6 3.4 6.2 i Average 77 13o s10 5.9 5.7 6.2 i sponse to cultural practices, 18 and 36-inch row being about equally good. Broadcast seeding were not used because of difficulties in irriga- tion. There was some indication that 60 pound of nitrogen increased yield. However, nitroge rates higher than 60 pounds produced less w. in most instances than the check plot. Resul i the second year of the test indicate that when th grass occupies the land for more than 1 year‘ greater response to nitrogen may be expected. l" Results of fa second test involving the stag of maturity at the time of final irrigation an i nitrogen fertilization are given in Table 16. Thes results show that for best seed production in th' area, Dallisgrass should have regular irrigatio until the plant matures. This is particularly trti on sandy soils of the type used for these tes 5* Seed yields again did not show any response I: fertility level. However, this was the first yea the land had been in grass. Seed Quality College Station: Only one seed crop .: analyzed for caryopses in 1952 and two crops.i 1953. Results o-f these analyses are shown i Table 17. Nitrogen had no influence on se quality in 1952 and very little in 1953. T i caryopsis content in June 1953 was lowest fro the plots receiving no nitrogen, while in Augu of the same year, the caryopsis content was low est from plots receiving 120 pounds per acre a nitrogen. However, these differences were r- significant statistically. All treatments produc seed with satisfactory caryopsis content. Winter Garden: Good yields of Dallisgra seed have been produced in the Winter Gard area, but seed quality often is so low as to- ma the seed worthless. Results of seed analyses i1 caryopses from the tests at Winter Haven a given in Table 18. Caryopsis content varies fro TABLE 17. PERCENTAGE CARYOPSES OF DALLISGRAI SEED MATERIAL NEAR COLLEGE STATIO 1952-53 Pounds oi nitrogen 1952 1953 per acre Aug. 28 Iune 18 Aug. 0 19.5_ 13.9 17.2 1 30 " 18.2 16.4 16.9 . 60 22.0 16.6 16.2 . 120 21.5 16.6 13.5 ' Average 20.3 15.9 - 16.0 i 18. PERCENTAGE CARYOPSES OF DALLISGRASS SEED MATERIAL PRODUCED IN THE WINTER v, GARDEN AREA. 1950-51 " racre August 9 November 7 Iune 12 October 5 3.0 11.2 22.2 1.3 4.5 13.0 13.7 1.0 5.2 11.7 20.4 1.0 4.2 11.1 19.1 1.1 .240 3.3 3.5 20.0 .5 0 iprage 4.7 1 1.1 19.8 1. l 1 above 20 percent. Combine-run Dallis seed ‘p are below 20 percent caryopses before the material is removed. Average percentage opses in July 1952 (Table 16) was only 6 Wnt, which is believed to be too low to be of bmical value. Work done in 1953 under cli- Q factors at Co-llege Station, indicates that iperature and humidity are important factors fid set by Dallisgrass. These results suggest ftemperatures at Winter Haven often may ; o high and the relative humidity too 10W for @- seed quality. Ergot was never a major fac- fiyin these studies, although some ergot was ent at times. Climatic Factors _ A study was initiated in 1953 to determine relationship of temperature and humidity, un- 1;‘ natural conditions, to seed set of Dallisgrass r College Station. A hygrothermograph was g- for keeping a continuous record of temper- re and relative humidity. Individual seed were tagged on the day of flowering and f7 e harvested individually as they matured. The ironmental conditions existing during and im- iately following the flowering period were ught to be the most important. Sixteen differ- - _, periods of 3 to 6 days each were selected for dy on the basis of uniformity of conditions the period and differences between per- . Average temperature and humidity condi- ‘s for each of the 16 periods are given in Table along with the average percentage seed set of jllisgrass. T Average seed set ranged from 6.1 percent in g period in June to 48.6 percent in August. lese differences were significant statistically. _ imum temperature and seed set were signifi- tly related with a regression coefficient of ; “.239. Seed set and daily minimum relative hu- -ity also were significantly related with a re- ssion coefficient of +0.702. A multiple re- sion of seed set on maximum temperature 1 minimum humidity was significant with R .758. Results of the regression analysis indi- I d that temperature and humidity influences ounted for a significant portion of the varia- ity in seed set among periods. The correlation of maximum daily temper- re and minimum daily humidity was only .006, which is not significant. This indicates the influences of the two environmental fac- tors were largely independent. The data show that when an extreme in either high temperature or low humidity was reached, it overshadowed the effect of the other. The highest seed set oc- curred on August 28 and 29 with a temperature of 85° F. and a minimum humidity of 54 percent. On October 6 and 7, maximum temperatures was only 81° F, but minimum humidity was the limit- ing factor (18 percent) and seed set averaged only 18.4 percent. On July 31 and August 1, min- imum humidity was favorable but maximum tem- perature was high (93° F.) and seed set aver- aged 30.6 percent. Within the limits of environ- mental conditions encountered, Dallisgrass seed production was favored by the lowest maximum daily temperatures and highest minimum relative humidity. ‘ Harvesting Harvesting may be by direct combining or mowing, windrowing and combining from the windrow. The cover picture shows a solid stand of Dallisgrass being harvested for seed with a com- bine. Determining the proper time for harvest- ing often is difficult, since flowering and ma- turity are uneven. Harvesting should be started when a maximum number of racemes are mature and brown in color but before shattering becomes severe. A few early-maturing spikelets will have shattered. The Rice-Pasture Experiment Sta- tion at Beaumont reported satisfactory results with combine harvesting (12). Seventy-five pounds per acre of Dallisgrass seed were harves- ted in October 1950 from a pasture which was grazed until 3 weeks before combining. Combine- run seed contain much green seed and should be dried before storing. This may be accomplished by spreading them in the sun or by drying them artificial with air temperatures of 110 to 120° F until the moisture content is reduced to 10 to 12 percent. Foreign material, which should be removed from the seed for ease of planting, can be sepa- TABLE 19. AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE AND MIN- IMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY BY PERIODS WITH THE CORRESPONDING PERCENTAGE SEED SET. 1953 Date g Maximum o Minimum Seed temperature. F humidity. ‘X, setl Oct. 6-7 81 18 18.4 Aug. 28-29 85 54 48.6 Sept. 4-7 88 27 30.4 Sept. 22 86 30 31.3 Iuly 12-13 _ a3 v 45 35.3 Oct. 12-13 88 24 28.2 Aug. 23-25 89 42 37.6 Sept. 16-17 90 37 31.4 Sept. 9-11 90 32 28.0 Iuly 31-Aug. 1 93 42 30.5 Iuly 1-3 93 42 22.9 Iuly 27-28 95 32 43.5 Iune 14-17 95 35 9.1 Iune 25-26 98 34 9.7 Aug. 10-12 100 28 14.3 lune 20-22 100 28 6.1 lExpressed as percentage caryopses. 13 rated with a regular farm-size seed cleaner. Re- moving the light or unfilled spikelets is a more difficult operation and special equipment is neces- sary for best results. In general, the results of seed quality analy- ses indicate that the highest quality seed are pro- duced in the College Station area prior to July 1. In other areas, Where minimum daily humid- ity may not drop as low or maximum tempera- ture go as high as in this vicinity, satisfactory seed crops may be produced and harvested later in the summer. LITERATURE CITED 1. Cook, E. D. and Bates, R. P. Performance and estab- lishment of warm season grasses at Kirbyville, 1951. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1451, 1952. 2. Fraps, G. S. and Fudge, J. F. The chemical compo- sition of forage grasses of the East Texas timber country. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 582, 1940. 3. Fudge, J. F. and Fraps, G. S. The chemical compo- sition of forage grasses from the Gulf Coast Prairie as related to soils and to requirements for range cattle. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 644, 1944. 4. Holt, E. C. and Hutson, H. C. The establishment of Dallisgrass. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1662, 1954. l4 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Hoveland, Carl S. Perennial warm-season grass te Winter Haven, 1952-1953. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. =- 1675, 1954. ; Hutson, H. C., Fisher, F. L. and Kapp, L. C. Effe, of fertilizers on the yield and chemical compositi ' of pasture forage at Nacogdoches, 1949-51. Tex. A ‘_ Exp. Sta. PR 1493, 1952. - Owens, C. R. Improvement of native Dallisg ==» (Paspalum dilatatum) in Louisiana. La. Agr. Exp Sta. Bul. 449, 1951. - Piper, C. V. Forage plants and their culture. MacMillan Co., New York, 1924. 5 Riewe, Marvin E. and Smith, J. C. Seeding oats an established Dallis and Bermudagrass sod. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1487, 1952. 4 Smith, O. E. and Holt, E. C. Forage crop varie -< tests at Prairie View, 1951-52. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1532, 1953. g Turner, W. F. Gains of heifers on native and im- proved pastures in the Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas- Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1018, 1946. a Weihing, Ralph M. and Moncrief, James B. Harves ing clover and Dallisgrass seed in the Texas rice bel P‘ Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1423, 1951. Weihing, Ralph M. and Moncrief, James B. Clovers and Dallisgrass volunteer after one rice crop. Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. PR 1435, 1952. i Vasey, George, Agricultural grasses and forage plants. Special Bulletin, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1889. [Blank Page in Original Bulletin] State-wide Research a ‘k i an: sunon Q mes smsrmous I n1: rem Luminous l oooPEaArm srmous The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station is the public agricultural research agency Location oi iieldTresearch unitls inlTeEaactas main- oi the State 9i Texas‘ and is one oi nine ta'n d by the exas Agricu tura per'm t Stlcxtiaon and cooperating agencies 1 en parts Oi the TGXGS College System lN THE MAIN STATION, with headquarters at College Station, are 16 subject-matter departments, 2 serv' departments, 5 regulatory services and the administrative staff. Located out in the major agricultural are‘ of Texas are 21 substations and 9 field laboratories. In addition, there are 14 cooperating stations own by other agencies, including the Texas Forest Service, the Game and Fish Commission of Texas, Te ~i Prison System, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, University of Texas, Texas Technological College I A the King Ranch. Some experiments are conducted on farms and ranches and in rural homes. RESEARCH BY THE TEXAS STATION is organized by programs and projects. A program of research repr sents a coordinated effort to solve the many problems relating to a common objective or situation. A r search project represents the procedures for attacking :1 specific problem within a program. THE TEXAS STATION is conducting about 550 active research projects, grouped in 25 programs which i clude all phases of agriculture in Texas. Among these are: conservation and improvement of soils; c0 servation and use of water in agriculture; grasses and legumes for pastures, ranges, hay, conservation a l, improvement of soils; grain crops; cotton and other fiber crops; vegetable crops; citrus and other subtroi cal fruits, fruits and nuts; oil seed crops—other than cotton; ornamental plants——including turf; brush a’ weeds; insects; plant diseases; beef cattle; dairy cattle; sheep and goats; swine; chickens and turkeys; r mal diseases and parasites; fish and game on farms and ranches; farm and ranch engineering; farm a j ranch business; marketing agricultural products; rural home economics; and rural agricultural economi Two additional programs are maintenance and upkeep, and central services. RESEARCH RESULTS are carried to Texas farm and ranch owners and homemakers by specialists and coun agents of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.