25 



As nearly the whole country is covered with timber very little wild 

 hay is cut exceptiug- iu the prairie region of Louisiana. There several 

 species of water-grasses are the common species of the wild lands, and 

 make a very fair hay. 



THE MORE IMPORTANT HAY AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



In the following- list only the more important of the native or culti- 

 vated hay and pasture plants are named. Many of these are rarely 

 seen in other sections of the country: a few are regarded as worthless 

 weeds in other localities; while others, common and valuable else- 

 where, have not proved suited to the soil and climate of the Gulf 



States. 



GRASSES. 



Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dcictylon) (fig. 3). — An extensively creeping and spread- 

 ing jierenuial, stems slender; leaves numerous, spikes digitate, mucli like those of 

 crab-grass, but shorter and more slender. Bermuda grass is to the South what 

 Kentucky blue grass is to the North, and is the best hay and pasture grass for all 

 soils which are not too wet. It is the most common grass in all parts of the Gulf 

 States, and the vigor of its growth is a very good indication of the quality of the 

 soil on which it is found. Its leaves and stems are so tine, and its creeping stems lie 

 so close to the ground, that it makes an excellent lawn grass. Bermuda grass is 

 never injured liy protracted drought, and is unhurt by the most frequent grazings 

 or cuttings. Its rootstocks are so strong and wiry that it is the best of soil-binders, 

 and is used extensively for protecting levees and embankments. It is one of the 

 best grasses for grazing, and may well be used in the Gulf States as the foundation 

 for all permanent pastures. As a hay grass it is unexcelled. In favorable seasons it 

 will give two cuttings, and on good soils its yield is from 2 to 4 tons of hay per acre. 



Bermuda grass is usually propagated by transplanting the roots. This may be 

 done at almost any time except during the coldest winter months, and tlie work is 

 not more expensive than is the seeding of ground in the ordinary manner. Shave 

 off sods an inch or two in thickness, cut them in pieces about an inch square, and 

 drop on the ground about two feet apart each way, stepping ou each one and crowd- 

 ing it into the soft ground as it is dropx»ed. If it is necessary to do the work when 

 the ground is too hard for this method, one man can make small holes with one 

 stroke of the hoe, while another drops tlie sods and covers them with his foot. When 

 the ground is in good condition, and th(> sods convenient, one man can plant an acre 

 in a day. 



If seed is used in i)ropagating Bermuda grass the ground must be very carefully 

 prepared, being harrowed as tine as possible. The seed should be sown in March, at 

 the rate of about 6 pounds per acre and covered with a roller, though if sown just 

 before a rain no other covering will be needed. As the seeds arc small they must 

 not be covered deeply or they fail to germinate. Being expensive and unreliable, 

 seed is seldom used. 



If the land is to be used for pasture only, the easiest means of securing a sod is to 

 run shallow furrows from 2 to 4 feet apart into which sods are dropped every few 

 feet and tramped into the soft soil. This method does very well for pastures, but 

 leaves the ground too rough for mowing. So easily may Bermuda grass be prop- 

 agated that good stands can be secured by scattering a dozen or more sods to the 

 acre and then cultivating the land in corn or cotton two or three years, after which 

 the grass will have become so well distributed that the field will need only to be 

 plowed and harrowed once in three to five years. The yield is greatly increased, 

 and the grass responds very quickly to an application of fertilizer, esjiecially of 

 stable uianure, 



