13 



states. In the warmer parts of tlie Southern States it makes rapid growth, is 

 but little affected by drought, and the hay, if cut just as the grass is coming 

 into bloom, is much liked by all kinds of stock. Two or three cuttings may be 

 made during the season. The extensively creeping rootstocks are fleshy and 

 tender, and hogs are very fond of them. These roots literally fill the ground near 

 the surface, and every joint is capable of developing a new stem. This grass, 

 when once it has become established, is exceedingly difiiicult to eradicate, and 

 hence has come to be greatly feared by the majority of farmers. Unless one 

 wishes to give up his laud entirely to Johnson-grass, and can certainly prevent 

 its spreading to the lands of others, its introduction would be of doubtful econ- 

 omy, owing to its powerful and 

 rapidly spreading roots. In 

 India the natives make rude 

 writing pens from the stems. 



No. 22. Andropogon hallii Hack. 

 Turkey-foot. 



This is a stout grass, from 3 to 6 

 feet high, closely related to 

 the Big Blue-stem (Andropogon 

 provincialis) , but appears to be 

 confined to the sandy regions 

 of the West. It is a good sand 

 binder and is common in the 

 sand hills of Nebraska, and 

 extends southward into Texas. 

 Its agricultural value is not 

 known, but although more 

 woody, it is probably nearly 

 as valuable as Big Blue-stem. 



No. 23. Andropogon nutans 



Linn. Bushy Blue-stem. (Fig. 7.) 



This is a stout perennial, 4 to 6 feet 

 high, growing in dry soil along 

 the borders of fields and open 

 woods, and on the prairies of 

 the West it often forms a large 

 proijortion of the so-called 

 prairie hay. It is held in little 

 esteem in the Eastern and 

 Southern States, but in the 

 West it is said to make excel- 

 lent hay, and is particularly 

 valuable because of the rela- 

 tively large amount of long 



root-leaves which it produces. All stock eat it greedily. In South Dakota it 

 is given the first place among the native grasses as a hay-producing species, 

 thriving best on the rich prairie bottoms. During the dry season it produces 

 but little seed, though it usually makes a good growth of root leaves. In the 

 middle Atlantic States this grass seeds, freely and the seeds are easily collected. 



No. 24. Andropogon provincialis Lam. Big Blue-stem. (Fig. 8.) 



A stout perennial, with erect, more or less branching, and often bluish or glaucous 



stems, 2 to 6 feet high, long leaves, and flowers in short spikes, which stand two 



to five close together at the apex of the stem or its branches. These spikes are 



bluish or purple, sometimes pale green, and more or less hairy. This grass has 



Fig. 8. — Big Blue-stem (Andropogon provincialis) : 

 g, details of the spikelet. 



a to 



