CULTIVATED PASTURES ol 
down the brush and weeds, but later the blue-grass 
dominates the undergrowth. In the alfalfa regions of the 
West, blue-grass is often looked upon as a weed, because 
of its tendency to invade alfalfa fields. 
The chief objections to blue-grass are the tendency 
to lie dormant during the hot dry midsummer, the diffi- 
culty in establishing a stand, and the low forage yield. 
_In spite of these objections, it leads all other pasture- 
grasses in the region where it thrives. 
27. Establishing a blue-grass pasture—Blue-grass is 
rather difficult to start, as the growth is slow the first 
year. About sixty pounds of seed an acre are sown. It 
is important to have good seed. Many of the failures to 
establish a good stand are due to sowing seed of low vital- 
ity. If the seed is good, thirty pounds to the acre should 
be sufficient. The seed is sown on prepared land, or with 
other crops such as clover, wheat or timothy, or with 
meadow grasses or in early spring upon the snow or upon 
frozen ground. The object of sowing with other crops is 
to utilize the land while the blue-grass is becoming estab- 
lished. In regions adapted to its growth, blue-grass will 
form a permanent pasture, since few plants can drive it 
out unless it is overgrazed. 
Bermuda-grass 
28. Bermuda is the standard pasture-grass for the 
South, occupying there the position of relative importance 
among grasses that blue-grass does in the North. Its dis- 
tribution is from the blue-grass area to the Gulf of Mexico 
and west to east Texas. Bermuda-grass is common in 
the warmer parts of both hemispheres and in the United 
States extends into the arid regions of the West. In the 
