76 



having a muddy Itottoni, but it can be sown in tlie spring in water from 6 inches 

 to 5 feet deep. Before sowing- soak the seeds in water twenty-fonr honrs. C'nr- 

 rent retail price of the seeds is 25 cents per pound. This grass is abundant in 

 the tide waters of the rivers of the Middle States, notalily in the Delaware 

 below Philadelphia, where it is always designated as "the reeds." The stems 

 are used by coopers for making the joints of barrels intended to hold whisky or 



petroleum perfectly 

 tight. This grass is 

 the .]fanorrin of the 

 Chippewa Indians, who 

 gather the grain for 

 food. 



No. 252. Zoysia puugens 

 Willd. Japanese Lawn- 

 grass. (Fig. 91.) 



A creeping maritime grass 

 growing on the sandy 

 shores of tropical and 

 eastern Asia, Australia, 

 and New Zealand. In 

 Australia it is consid- 

 ered an excellent sand- 

 bindi'i', and, while val- 

 uable for this purpose, 

 it is .at the same time 

 an excellent forage 

 p 1 a n t . Under favor- 

 able circumstances it 

 forms a c()mi)act turf 

 and artbrds a large 

 amount of choice pas- 

 t n r a g e . Constant 

 cropping apjiears to 

 improve it and increase 

 the density of the turf. 

 In the foreign settle- 

 ments of China and Ja- 

 pan it is prized as a 

 lawn grass, especially 

 for tennis courts. It is 

 finer-leafed than f>t. Augustine-grass, and may prove superior to that for lawns 

 in the Southern and Gulf States. The habit of growth of Japanese lawn-grass 

 is very similar to that of Bermuda, but the cree])ing stems are rather stouter 

 and more rigid and the upright branches or tufts of liowering stems are never 

 80 tall, rarely exceeding (3 inches. It may be propagated by root cuttings or by 

 seed. Importations ot both roots and seeds from Korea have been successfully 

 grown here, and the grass has ])roved hardy as far north as Connecticut. The 

 leaves turn brown in the autumn, as do those of Bermuda. 



Fig. 91. — Japane.se Lawn-grass (Zoysia pungem) ; a to d details 

 of tbe spikelet. 



