I 



CULTIVATED PASTURES 31 



down the brush and weeds, but later the blue-grass 

 dominates the undergrowth. In the alfalfa regions of the 

 West, blue-grass is often looked upon as a weed, because 

 of its tendency to invade alfalfa fields. 



The chief objections to blue-grass are the tendency 

 to lie dormant during the hot dry midsummer, the diffi- 

 culty in establishing a stand, and the low forage yield. 

 In spite of these objections, it leads all other pasture- 

 grasses in the region where it thrives. 



27. Establishing a blue-grass pasture. — ^Blue-grass is 

 rather difficult to start, as the growth is slow the first 

 year. About sixty pounds of seed an acre are sown. It 

 is important to have good seed. Many of the failures to 

 establish a good stand are due to sowing seed of low vital- 

 ity. If the seed is good, thirty pounds to the acre should 

 be sufficient. The seed is sown on prepared land, or with 

 other crops such as clover, wheat or timothy, or with 

 meadow grasses or in early spring upon the snow or upon 

 frozen ground. The object of sowing with other crops is 

 to utilize the land while the blue-grass is becoming estab- 

 lished. In regions adapted to its growth, blue-grass will 

 form a permanent pasture, since few plants can drive it 

 out imless it is overgrazed. 



Bermuda-grass 



28. Bermuda is the standard pasture-grass for the 



South, occupying there the position of relative importance 

 among grasses that blue-grass does in the North. Its dis- 

 tribution is from the blue-grass area to the Gulf of Mexico 

 and west to east Texas. Bermuda-grass is common in 

 the warmer parts of both hemispheres and in the United 

 States extends into the arid regions of the West. In the 



