606 
States consul at Kingston, Jamaica, a portion of it was sent by 
the Department to a planter in Florida for purposes of experiment. 
Some of the seed was sown on the 20th of May, on common pine land, 
slightly manured with cotton-seed. Although not coming up as well as 
expected, it stooled out, sending out from fifteen to sixty stalks to the 
seed, and by August 1 was over 5 feet high and very thrifty. Three 
weeks after the first a second sowing was made on lower and wetter 
ground ; but this did not grow quite as well as the first, although send- 
ing out more shoots to the seed, one stool havirg one hundred stalks in 
the bunch. <A few stalks were cut and planted to test rapidity of 
growth. The center shoots of thesestalks grew as much as 2 inches in 
twenty-four hours, and 14 inches in one week—indicating, in the ex- 
perimenter’s opinion, that it might be cut to advantage once a month. 
It did not appear to be affected by drought, and our correspondent says 
that if itis found to ratoon well (sprout or spring up from the root, as 
in the sugar-cane from the root of the previous year’s planting) on the 
poor pine lands in Florida its introduction will prove of inestimable 
value, as there is no reliable forage-grass now cultivated or growing 
wild in the State. 
The following is quoted from a communication to the New York 
Tribune (October 15) on “hay-making at the South,” by C. Tennant 
Lee, of Dallas County, Alabama: 
An exceedingly profitable business, which has sprung up in the last two or three 
years, is hay-making, from what is known hereabouts as the Johnson grass, after the 
name of the man who brought it here from South Carolina. It produces a heavy hay, 
nutritious and palatable to all stock, but it has a single drawback—the seed from it is 
dangerous ; the more widely the hay is sold the worse will be the spread of a grass 
that takes complete possession of the land. Under the (I believe) correct name of 
Guinea-grass, many will know it to their sorrow. In three years’ time a field once 
started with it is gone for any cultivation. 
Something as fine as the Guinea-grass, and at the same time harmless, is what is 
here called water-grass. It flourishes in the bottoms of the plowed fields where the. 
ground is moist, and on common land grows 5 and 6 feet tall. The stem is sweet as 
sugar-corn, and the head which tops the seed-stem is often a foot long, and rich with 
seeds, which stock eat with avidity. In this country it is regarded as the best grass for 
hay, horses preferring it to crab-grass or timothy. The head, when first forming, is 
green, and then‘a bright red, after turning toa brown. Cut in season, three crops can 
be easily made from it—a ton, and even two tons, to the acre at a cutting. I cannot 
learn that this hay has ever been marketed; but ‘this year much has been ‘made, and I 
expect to see a high price realized from it. ‘Certainly, these facts given do not indicate 
that the South is moving in a wrong direction. 
In his report of experiments on the Madras (India) experimental 
farm, 1873, Mr. Robertson, in charge, speaks very favorably of Guinea- 
grass. The better he becomes acquainted with it the more he values it. 
He refers in a deprecating manner to the erroneous ideas prevalent in 
regard to the grass, ascribing them to superficial observation and lim- 
ited experience. Among, these false notions he mentions these: That 
Guinea-grass must be irrigated, not only at the time it is planted, but 
regularly at stated intervals afterward; that it must be taken up and 
be replanted on new ground at the end of every two years at the fur- 
thest; and that the fodder is not a suitable food for stock, and can only 
be used in small quantities for such a purpose. Mr. R. has fine erops 
which were never irrigated; a field planted four years ago, which is as 
flourishing now as at any time, while some of the best results have been 
obtained in fattening stock with this grass. But the grass must not be 
planted ‘in the hot season, or during dry weather, when the soil is devoid 
of moisture; cloudy and showery seasons ought always to be chosen. 
The methods pursued on the Madras farm are thus given: 
Plow, scarify, and weed the land thoroughly; harrow, roll, and pulverize to a fine 
