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Description:
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Buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt . ) Engelm] has been , and will continue to be , a very important native grass species on the Shortgrass Prairie of the central United States . The major limitation of buffalograss as a forage has been low yield . In 1994 and 1995 , 273 native accessions of buffalograss were collected and established at the Texas Tech UniversityPlant Stress Field Laboratory at Lubbock , Texas , in a randomized block design with three blocks . Lubbock is located at 33° 35' N latitude and 101° 58* W longitude at an altitude of 1003 m . The soil at the site is an Amahllo Fine Sandy Loam (fine mixed thermic Typic Paleustalf ) .
In 1997 and 1998 , fifteen accessions of this germplasm collection and three cultivars were evaluated for forage quality and yield . Samples were evaluated for forage quality by using wet chemistry and NIRS to measure percentage crude protein (CP ) , cell wall , cellulose , hemicellulose , lignin , and acid insoluble ash . Forage yield was estimated by harvesting , drying , andweighing vegetation from 45 cm^ (1 .5 ft^ ) sample areas for four harvests in both years .
Significant differences in yield of the entries were only detected at the June harvest of 1998 . Significant differences in CP were found in four of the eight harvests , and significant differences in NDF percentages were detected in five of the eight harvests . Entries had significantly different percentages of cellulose and acid insoluble ash at two harvests , and hemicellulose at only one harvest . Results of these analyses were used to select top accessions for development of experimental cultivars of buffalograss with improved forage quality and yield . |