160 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



common practice to utilize the cornfields for fall 

 pasturage. 



Bermuda Grass {Qynodon DactyloTi). — This is pre- 

 eminently the best Southern grass for permanent pas- 

 tures. It thrives on all kinds of soil and stands the 

 closest grazing without injury. It is very nutritious 



and is greatly relished by stock of 

 all kinds. An acre of Bermuda 

 grass on good land in any of the 

 Gulf states will, on account of the 

 longer growing season, furnish 

 more pasturage than the best acre 

 in the famous bluegrass regions 

 of Kentucky. The one drawback 

 to its more general use is that it 

 is very difficult to exterminate 

 and becomes a serious pest when 

 the land is brought under culti- 

 vation. 



It is practically the only suit- 

 able grass in the South for lawns, 

 as it covers the ground quickly, 

 and if well enriched and kept 

 closely clipped will make a beautiful sod in a very 

 few months' time. On thin lands it does not grow 

 tall enough to yield profitable cuttings for hay, but 

 on rich lands it will yield a ton or more of very 

 nutritious hay at each cutting, and can be cut as 

 many as three times in the course of the season. 



Bermuda grass occurs in all the West India 

 Islands and in the other American tropics. Its 

 value as a pasture grass in those regions has been 



Bermuda Grass. 



