116 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



land could then be fertilized well, using whatever arti- 

 ficial fertilizer best suited the soil, then the Bermuda 

 grass planted and at the right time sowing little white 

 clover. One can not use the large-growing clovers with 

 Bermuda grass, since it will not endure shade. It is 

 really a tropical grass and revels in heat and sunlight. 

 Bur clover grows with it fairly well, but white clovei 

 fits it best of all, and fortunately this clover is native to 

 nearly all the South. Lespedeza grows fairly well with 

 Bermuda grass and this also may be sown after the grass 

 has been planted. 



Weeds are the bane of Bermuda grass. When well- 

 shaded it dies. I once wondered why in the dooryard 

 lot of a southern plantation that I was studying there 

 was not one sprig of Bermuda grass, though it was 

 abundant on the levee bank a few hundred feet away. 

 Later I learned that there had been a fine Bermuda lawn 

 there for many years and only the rank weeds that sprang 

 up during a temporary abandonment of the place had 

 killed the grass. On the levee trespassing cows had kept 

 the land clear enough to perpetuate the grass. In one year 

 we re-established the grass in the lawn. It is indeed a 

 marvel of rapid establishment on good soil. The lesson 

 is to mow off the weeds once or twice a year while es- 

 tablishing the grass. Afterward, when in pasture, there 

 will be. few or no weeds to trouble. A pure stand of 

 Bermuda and white clover, hard-grazed, on rich land, 

 is as clean a thing as one will ever find. On thin, poor 

 soils it will pay exceedingly well to fertilize the Bermuda 

 pasture. I should do this very early in spring, or, if 



