Photograph of hand harvesting weeping lovegrass seed in a 2-year old planting in a corner of a cultivated field. (Note terraces and contour cultivation in background). W.R. Whitehead operates a 520 acre farm and plans to plant 10 to 15 acres of lovegrass next year. Last year he hand harvested 24 lbs. of seed from 1/8th an acre. A 2 acre field of rye grass was grazed by 130 hogs, one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon for 90 days beginning February 1, 1945. Seed was then combined from the plot. Mr. Whitehead says the grazing alone was worth as much to him as 200 bushels of corn. Yield of lovegrass seed this year is estimated at 125 lbs per acre from approximately 8 acres. Mr. Whitehead and his son are shown in the photpgraph. OK-8992.

Photograph of farm home of O.W. Johnston, a conservation farmer, near Bristow, Oklahoma. Left to right are: Mr. Frank Bolinger, Creek County Soil Conservation District Supervisor; Howard Lewis, Soil Conservation service Technician; Miss Odelene Johnston; Mrs. O.W. Johnston (seated) and grandchildren. Mr. Johnston is carrying out a complete soil conservation on his farm. OK-8984.

Photograph of pasture establishment. Automatic Bermuda grass sprigger putting out Bermuda grass roots on an old upland cultivated field. Fertilizer, 10-20-10, is being applied as the sprigs are being planted, at the rate of 150 pounds per acre. The soil in this field, soil unit 20, is not suitable for cultivation so it is being put into permanent pasture. The practice of converting depleated cropland into permanent pastures is recommended by the Soil Conservation Service. OK-266-11.

Photograph of a Bermuda grass root harvest. Arbuckle Soil Conservation District [SCD] sprigging Bermuda grass on Jim Bivins’ farm, with two-plow sprigger. Note the rack built on top to hold extra sprigs. Approximately 4 acres can be sprigged without stopping to reload. Note trailer being pulled behind sprigger to carry extra fertilizer—800 pounds. The trailer was so designed by the District that one wheel of the trailer runs over the last row of sprigs planted, thus giving more compaction and firming of the soil over the sprigs to retain moisture. An extension was added on the fertilizer attachment of the sprigger for carrying an additional 350 pounds of fertilizer. A spare tire is also carried on the trailer. District-owned chisel, rototiller, side delivery rake. This equipment is for harvesting Bermuda grass roots for establishing sod on other farms. Land is left smooth and will be re-harvested in 2 years. The District charges $5.00 for the use of the automatic sprigging machine and enough Bermuda roots to sod 1 acre. Average yield per acre will sod 12 acres. This machine will harvest 3 tons of roots daily, enough to spring 30 acres. The Soil Conservation Service recommends permanent pasture on land …

Photograph of pasture cultivation. Pasture recently established on land cleared from dense oak brush. The original brush in the background. Area in the center of photo shows the problem of removing stumps and dirt after burning. This area will need to be reworked before the pasture will have full coverage of grass and can be moved. Midland Bermuda grass was sprigged on this area to establish pasture. This land clearing and pasture establishing is recommended by the Soil Conservation Service [SCS]. OK-266-9.

Photograph of land clearing. Native black jack trees showing the results of an aerial application of 2-4-5T herbicide. Spraying was done in 1951 and 1953 at a rate of two and one pounds, respectively, of acid per gallon [of oil or water?]. Demonstration under supervision of the US Department of Agriculture [USDA], Agricultural Research Service [ARS]. Note the return of native bluestem grass when the growth of the black jacks has been removed. This brush was sprayed twice, one year between sprayings. OK-266-12.

Photograph of land clearing. Native black jack trees showing the results of aerial application of 2-4-5-T herbicide. This brush was sprayed twice, with a year between sprayings. Spraying was done at a rate of two pounds per acre in 1951 and one pound per acre in 1953. Demonstrations were under the supervision of the US Department of Agriculture [USDA] and its in-house research agency, the Agricultural research Service [ARS]. Note the return of native bluestem grass when the growth of the blackjacks has been removed. OK-266-12.