Salt Tolerance and Chemical Composition of Rhodes and Dallis Grasses Grown in Sand Culture

Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth.) and Dallis grass (Paspalgm dilatatgm Poir.) show considerable promise for use in irrigated pastures in southwestern United States. Field observations suggest that these species have moderate salt tolerance, but little quantitative information is available. :tt is generally believed that when Rhodes grass is grown on saline soils, sufficient quantities of salt are accumulated in the herbage so that it acts as a cathartic when eaten by livestock (2I). It was deemed advisable to study the salt tolerance of these two species under controlled conditions and to ascertain the influence of salinized substrates on their mineral composition.