20 A MANUAL OF FRAM GRASSES 



trampling as well as the dry hot summers. Although 

 especially adapted to the drier uplands, Bermuda thrives 

 in the valley lands and when grown here tends to become 

 rank and is available for hay. These richer lands are, 

 however, generally utilized for more valuable crops. The 

 northern extension of this grass is limited by the cold 

 winters. 



Bermuda grass is preeminently a sun-loving or open 

 ground grass. It languishes in the shade and is easily 

 choked out by vigorous, shade-producing crops. It is 

 this character that gives to this grass its value for the dry 

 open uplands of the Cotton Belt. In the rich low lands 

 of the Gulf Coast, it is crowded out in competition with 

 two other grasses, carpet grass and St. Augustine grass. 

 These grasses thrive especially on mucky soil. On sandy 

 soil, even in the low lands, Bermuda usually holds its 

 own. 



Another plant, a legume, is adapted to the pasture 

 lands under the same conditions that are favorable to 

 Bermuda. This is Japan clover, a low annual, intro- 

 duced from the Orient but now widely distributed in the 

 warmer parts of America. 



Various other plants are used to a limited extent in the 

 South for pasture. Bluegrass thrives in the mountainous 

 portions. Alfalfa is grown on the black prairie soils of 

 Alabama and eastern Texas, but mostly for hay. John- 

 son grass is used for pasture in those areas where it has 

 obtained a foothold, but is not so well adapted for this as 

 for hay. 



Valuable as is Bermuda for pasture, it becomes a 

 troublesome weed in cultivated fields. There it grows 



