260 GRASSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



and to eradicate it completely where it is present only in 

 patches, small or large. 



CKAB caiASS. 



Crab Grass (Patiicnm saiiguinalc) is one of a some- 

 what numerous family of plants. It is doubtless so 

 named from the fancied resendjlance which its spikelets 

 bear to the claw of a crab. 



The stems grow from 1 to o feet high. They have 

 been known to reach the height of 7 feet, but the aver- 

 age height in good soil is a little more than 2 feet. 

 They are much branched and are somewhat decumbent 

 at the base. Under favorable conditions roots are 

 formed at the lower nodes. From three to six flower 

 S2)ikelets from 3 to G inches long proceed from the top 

 of the stem. These produce seeds freely. The roots 

 are fibrous. 



Crab grass is an annual which grows best in sum- 

 mer and in the hottest Aveather. It springs up in stub- 

 ble fields where grain has been grown, and in a few 

 weeks, if encouraged by frequent showers, will produce 

 one or even two crops of hay. It will also grow up 

 quickly in corn that is laid by, so as to cover the ground 

 deeply with a coating of herbage. It is very trouble- 

 some in cultivated crops and in gardens, more es])ecially 

 when these grow in fertile soils, but in grass crops that 

 are at all ])ermanent in character it soon gives way to 

 other grasses. It furnishes excellent hay and grazing, 

 being at once ])alatable and nutritious. This singular 

 plant luis the characteristic <^f being one of the best hay 

 plants of the South and at the sanu^ time one of the 

 most troublesome weeds. 



