39 



Mr Samuel Roskelly, Logan, Cache County, Utah : 



The land used was a virgin sage brush upland, which was plowed 5 inches deep, 

 harrowed, replowed 8 inches deep, then thoroughly harrowed again. The seed was 

 sown April 16, 1897, and covered lightly with a slanting-tooth harrow. It was 

 in full 1>looin about July 20 and cut August 2, to save what I could, as drought began 

 to affect it considerably. The hay was of good quality and yielded probably about 

 IJ tons to the acre. The stand was rather poor, but what did come seems to have 

 taken root well. 



Mr. Henry Wehry, North Vernon, Jennings County, Ind. : 



The seed was sown on well-prepared clay loam in the spring of 1898. The hay 

 was of good quality, but the yield small. It does not grow quite as large as the side 

 oats grama {Bonteloua cuiiipenduin) , ])ut otherwise it is fully equal to it and would 

 be a good grass to put in a mixture for permanent pastures. 



BERMUDA GRASS (Cynodon dactylon) . 



A perennial grass, with a creeping habit of growth and upright 

 flowering stems, which terminate in a tinger-like inflorescence. It is 

 dispersed throughout the tropical regions and warmer countries of 

 the globe. Its value as a pasture grass is said to have been first 

 noticed in this country by the late General Bethune, of Georgia, 

 about 1825, who planted it in many places throughout the States. 

 When the soil is poor the leaves are short and the upright stems only 

 a few inches high, but on good land it grows to a height of 2 feet and 

 yields a considerable amount of excellent hay. Throughout the South 

 it is extensively used as a lawn grass where the grasses ordinarily 

 used for lawns could not survive. The leaves, however, turn brown 

 with the first frosts, so that it is only in the summer that this grass 

 produces a green and pleasing lawn. The quickest method of pro- 

 ducing a lawn of Bermuda grass is by cutting up a piece of the turf 

 into small pieces and transplanting these from 6 inches to 1 foot apart. 

 When once established, it is very persistent and diflicult to eradicate, 

 hence the advisability of keeping it out of land which is likely to be 

 used for other crops. Bermuda grass does not mature seed, except 

 in the extreme southern portion of our country, but imported seed 

 can be obtained from the leading seedsmen. A variety known as St. 

 Lucie grass is regarded as more desirable for lawns than the ordinary 

 form, as it is of a finer texture, grows more rapidly, and is said to 

 withstand quite severe frosts. As it does not root so deeply, it is less 

 liable to become a pest by spreading into cultivated fields. 



Since 1896, 22 packages of Bermuda grass have been distributed and 

 10 experimenters have complied with our request for a report on 

 their success or failure. Out of these, 5 speak of it very highly and 

 regard it as a valuable forage plant, 3 consider it of but little value, 

 while 2 report complete failures. 



