2010-11-12_PERMIT FILE - C1981010A (4)

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• Kentucky bluegrass is widely distributed throughout most of North America north of Mexico, except in the warmer and desert areas. It is well adapted to the more humid and cooler temperate regions and grows most abundantly from Kentucky to Missouri northward to Alaska and Labrador. It also thrives in more arid regions where ample soil moisture is supplied. In [he central Rocky Mountains it some- times grown abundantly in [he valleys but is seldom abundant in the mountains, although of [en common on localized areas, and is found at elevations up to as high as 10,000 feet. It occurs sparingly on favorable sites in the Southwest; and in California, where the summers are hot, is confined to the cool mountainous regions.. Kentucky bluegras will grow on a wide diversity of sites, but it thrives best on well-drained loams or clay loams which are preeminently rich in humus. It is i outstandingly abundant on [he rich limestone soils of the historic bluegrass regions of Kentucky and Virginia, where the grass frequently attains such density as to crowd out all other species. Consequently experts formerly thought that Kentucky bluegrass required an abundance of lime. However, investigations of the • United Stales Department of Agriculture at Arlington Farm, Virginia, show that application of lime [o soils deficient in Chat chemical material had little or no effect on bluegrass growth. Kentucky bluegrass is frequently found on wet soils, but, unlike redtop, it does not thrive on acid soils and it cannot survive on waterlogged sites. In the West this grass ordinarily inhabits the richer moun- tainous soils and moister sites, often occurring in meadows, along water courses, and in the more or less open and semishaded benchlands. Kentucky bluegrass usually produces an abundance of nutritious forage and lush herbage which are highly palatable to all classes of livestock as well as to elk and deer. It rates as very good for cattle and horses, good for sheep and elk, and is one of the better forage grasses for deer. These game animals freely graze the tender leafage during the spring, immediately after growth begins, when the leaves are young and succulent. If moisture supply is ample and the tempera- ture does not rise above 90°F, the foliage remains green and palatable throughout the summer. Kentucky bluegrass sod is unusually resistant to heavy utilization, • being able not only to maintain itself but~to increase Che stand even on heavily trampled areas where [he plants are cropped closely. 2-79 „