118 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



had better be cultivated and fertilized as well. When 

 they are taken off the land will be free from Bermuda 

 grass and in more fertile condition than ever before. 

 When the peas come off it may be sown again to wheat, 

 vetches, alfalfa or some suitable clover. The following 

 spring it may safely be put to corn or cotton. 



Choice of Land for Bermuda Grass. I observe the 

 best Bermuda growing on sandy loams or on the loess 

 soils along the Mississippi River. On hard clays and 

 "buckshot" lands it does not yield nearly so well, mainly 

 because when tramped by stock these lands become so 

 very hard that they dry out badly and the Bermuda suf- 

 fers an almost continuous thirst. 



Bermuda Grass in Oklahoma. I have seen nothing 

 finer than the Bermuda grass lawns and pastures of Ok- 

 lahoma. John Fields, former director of the Oklahoma 

 Experiment Station, was the first to see the great value of 

 this grass for that state of hot sun and summer dry ness, 

 and his efforts have resulted in thousands of Bermuda pas- 

 tures being planted there. L. A. Moorhouse in Bulletin 

 75 of the Oklahoma station writes thus of the history of 

 Bermuda grass : 



"Bermuda grass is a well-known plant in our southern states. 

 It has been grown in the south for more than three-quarters of 

 century, and many are, therefore, familiar with the characteristics 

 of this plant. According to the most authentic records this grass 

 was formerly introduced from the tropical regions of the east, and 

 it is not indigenous to the Bermuda Islands as the name might lead 

 us to suppose. One of the earliest records of the appearance of 

 this plant in America dates back to 1825, at which time it was 

 found growing in Georgia. It was distributed to some extent at this 

 early date; thus this grass has come to be of economic importance 



