By: Todd Thomas, Water Resources Forester, Texas A&M Forest Service
Q:
Recently I was considering various revegetation options so I decided to consult
the trusty old blue book. On page 68, in
the chart that has different types of grasses and planting rates, etc., I
noticed under plating rate that most everything is listed as lbs/acre. However, there were some that instead of
“lbs”, the unit was “bu”. What does “bu”
stand for?
A:
First and foremost, I commend you on exploring other revegetation options and
taking advantage of our seeding chart.
To answer your question, “bu” stands for “bushels”. Species listed in bushels per acre are to be
sprigged instead of seeded. Species that
require sprigging are generally hybrids such as Coastal Bermuda grass. Since they are hybrids, they do not reproduce
from seeds, but from roots or runners.
 |
| Bermuda Grass Sprig |
Now you are probably asking yourself, “How much
exactly is a bushel?” Do not worry, you
are not alone, this is not a common unit of measurement these days to say the
least. A bushel is defined as a volume
measurement that contains 32 quarts, 8 gallons, or 1.25 cubic feet. Length times width times depth in feet
divided by 1.25 or multiplied times 0.8 will give the number of measured
bushels a truck or trailer can hold.
Species of Bermudagrass are excellent options for
erosion control. These species are
perennials, so under the right circumstances, they will return year in and year
out, making them ideal for areas that will not be placed into timber
production. Bermuda also has an
extensive root structure that does a superb job of holding the soil in
place. The fine blades of Bermudagrass
above the soil surface were almost designed to intercept overland flow.
*This article was published in the March 2014 edition of the Texas Logger
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