20 



The Bulletin 



Bermuda Grass. Cynodon Dactylon (L.) Pers. 



Called also Scutch Grass, Dog's-tootli Grass. Flower stems not over 

 a foot high, produced from long, creeping stolons which are the plant's 

 chief method of propagation. Leaves small, crowded at the hase of the 

 flowering stem. Spikes four to five, purplish, arranged in the same 

 manner as the fingers on the hand. Seed small, light yellow, keeled so 

 as to appear half oval in outline. Not abundantly produced in this 

 section, but occurs more or less everywhere throughout the State in lawns, 

 waste places and cultivated fields. Used extensively for lawns and golf 

 courses. July to September. 



CONTROL 



J^ot many farmers in 

 N" r t h Carolina are 

 afraid of Bermuda Grass 

 as it is coming to be rec- 

 ognized as our very best 

 permanent pasture plant. 

 It is not to be feared as 

 a weed, for good crops 

 can be grown in spite of 

 it, and the land is always 

 left more fertile because 

 of its presence in the soil. 



"When found in culti- 

 vated fields, however, it 

 is a weed in most cases. 

 Shallow plowing and rak- 

 iiig out tlie roots, follow- 

 ed by smothering crops, 

 will generally keep it un- 

 der control. Bermuda 

 (irass now ripens seed in 

 Xorth Carolina, thus 

 having two methods of 

 extending its spread — by 

 root stocks and by seeds. 

 It must, therefore, be 

 kept from both growing 

 leaves and producing seed 

 ill order to kill it entirely 

 — a dilHcult undertaking. 



So. 17. Bermuda Grass or 

 Cynodon dactyl'jn (L.) Pkus. 



