Recent results of range reseeding trials on semidesert rangeland in Southern New Mexico

              NEW MEXICO COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS
AND AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
Press Bulletin 1000
The purpose of this press bulletin is to present information concerning reseed-
ing trials on semidesert rangeland obtained since the issuance of Bulletin 278 of
this Station, entitled "Reseeding Trials on Arid Range Land." For fuller presentation of the results of range reseeding experiments conducted by the Station, the
reader is referred to Bulletin 278, which may be had without charge upon request
from the Director of the Experiment Station, State College, New Mexico. Plots on
which the observations herein reported were made are of various sizes, Some of the
species adaptability test plots are one-hundredth acre in size while a few of the
more extensive plantings have been made on plots or fields as large as 20 acres.
Most plantings were made on quarter-acre plots or on contiguous groups of quarter-
acre plots.
Much of the seed used in the plantings v/as furnished by the Nursery Division of
the Soil Conservation Service, which also has furnished aid of an advisory nature.
Among the many grasses that have been tested on the experimental ranch located
about 20 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Lehmann lovegrass (Eragrostis
lehmanniana) and Boer lovegrass (Eragrostis chloromelas), which are introductions
from Africa, have been found to be outstanding in performance, and appear to be well
suited for reseeding depleted semidesert range land in the southern part of the State,
Planting trials at^the ranch have shown that these two grasses will produce good
stands when properly planted in favorable seasons. Considering the matter of getting
a stand of seedlings and rapidity of their development, Lehmann lovegrass has given
somewhat better results than Boer lovegrass but the latter species is good in these
respects. These two lovegrasses should not be confused with weeping lovegrass
(Eragrostis curvula). sometimes called African lovegrass, which is also an introduction from Africa. Weeping lovegrass has bean found to be unsuited for general reseeding in the hot, dry semidesert section of the State, but is an excellent grass
for reseeding in the cooler, more humid northern and eastern sections.
One characteristic among several others essential to a species of grass in
order that it be considered well suited to reseeding rangeland, is the capacity to
maintain its stand after initial reseeding, or at least to occupy the site until
other desirable forage species become established on the site through natural re-
vegetation. It must not, if it is to be considered successful, die out after a year
or so and leave the site almost devoid of a good cover of forage plants. This is
especially true on semidesert ranges where annual production of forage per unit of
area is comparatively low. In order to justify cost of seeding on such ranges the
benefits of seeding should extend over a period of years. Until recently, no observations had been made in the plantings of Lehmann lovegrass on the experimental
ranch with regard to the ability of this grass to maintain itself in stands. During
the winter of 1943-44, owing to low rainfall during most of the preceding growing
season and perhaps in part to high stand density, a number of plantings of Lehmann
lovegrass on the ranch sustained considerable loss of plants. Losses ran from 30
percent of the plants on some plots to 75 percent or more on others. Stands were
considerably reduced on many plots and severely reduced on the plots undergoing the
higher losses. During the growing season of 1944, which was very good at the site
of the experimental grass plantings, natural reproduction of Lehmann lovegrass has
been much better than ever before on the experimental ranch. As a consequence, it
now appears that the stands of Leu...arm lovegrass are going to be maintained, by this