The salinity tolerance of 200 lentiI cultivars (Lens culinaris), 205 chickpea cuitivars (Cicer arietinum) and five tall fescue cultivars (Fescua Arundinacea Schreb.) was tested in vitro, using four different salinity levels. A second screening was done after pre-soaking the seeds for 24 hours in water. The effect of X-ray on the germination of lentil under these conditions was also tested. In addition, 21 promising lentil varieties were tested in sand-filled pots in the greenhouse. The experiment indicated that the chickpea cultivars were more saline tolerant than the lentil and tall fescue cultivars. The X-ray treatment had no clear effect on the germination and shoot growth of lentil. Results of the top 50 cultivars of each screening test indicated that even for the more resistant cultivars shoot growth becomes severly impaired at an EC of 4 dSIm and higher. In the greenhouse, 8 of the 21 pre-soaked lentil cultivars survived at an EC of 7 dS/m. The tall fescue cultivars did not survive the saline water treatment (4 dS/m and above). This study indicated that the chickpea cultivars were more saline tolerant than the lentil and tall fescue cultivars.