62 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



soft and the dark green color is agreeable to the eye. It 

 can be grown successfully without irrigation in the north- 

 eastern states as far south as Virginia and Tennessee, and 

 farther in the mountains, and west to Minnesota and 

 eastern Kansas, also in the humid region of Oregon and 

 Washington, and in the western mountains. Throughout 

 most of the northern half of the United States beyond the 

 limits mentioned it can be grown with the aid of irrigation. 

 Even in the humid region it may be necessary to supply 

 water during the dry periods in the summer. 



In the southern half of the United States, except in 

 the mountains, blue-grass does not thrive even when 

 irrigated, although, except in the lower coastal plain, it 

 may with special care make a fair growth. In the humid 

 region it may fail because of the character of the soil. 

 Thriving best on limestone soils, it fails to give good 

 results on acid soils. Hence, blue-grass is not adapted to 

 much of the coastal region from New England to Virginia. 

 Often it is practicable to correct the soil acidity by the 

 addition of lime. 



79. Rhode Island bent is especially adapted to that 

 portion of the humid region in which blue-grass fails 

 because of soil acidity, as it thrives under moist, moder- 

 ately acid conditions. Rhode Island bent does not pro- 

 duce vigorous creeping rootstocks as does blue-grass, but 

 nevertheless will form a fairly firm and uniform sod. 

 For a description of Rhode Island bent and its relation 

 to redtop, see Par. 234. Creeping bent is another form of 

 redtop, with creeping or stoloniferous stems, which pro- 

 duces a lawn of good color and texture. 



80. Bermuda-grass answers all the requirements of 

 an ideal lawn grass except that of color. To many people 

 the light gray-green color is not so pleasing to the eye as 



