242 FOE AGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



followed by light harrowing; 4. Treated the same as in 

 2, and then planted to kafir corn which was cultivated in 

 the usual way. A good stand was secured by the first 

 method, a partial stand by the second, but the other two 

 were failures. 



285. Yields of hay. But few reliable yields of Ber- 

 muda-grass hay have been recorded, but statements have 

 been published to the effect that 3 to 4 tons an acre are 

 secured at times. Probably the average yield does not 

 exceed 1 ton an acre. 



At the Oklahoma Experiment Station a field of 2| acres 

 planted in June, 1905, yielded 2584 pounds hay an acre 

 at the end of September, and in 1906 three cuttings gave a 

 yield of 10,160 pounds an acre. Another plot yielded 

 during three years to the acre respectively, 5850, 1635 and 

 1667 pounds of hay. 



Newman states that a field on bottom land in Georgia 

 yielded in three cuttings 13,000 pounds of cured hay to 

 the acre. 



286. Rootstocks. According to Duggar, the stout 

 rootstocks when plowed up are readily eaten by hogs. 

 In the tropics where Bermuda-grass is sold green in bundles 

 for horse feed, the rootstocks are often pulled up when the 

 top growth is scanty. The same use of the rootstocks is 

 made in Naples, Italy, where they are fed to cab horses. 



287. Pasture value. Bermuda alone or in mixtures 

 makes excellent pasturage, but it is best when closely 

 grazed. The stems become rather tough and wiry with 

 age, and where there are not enough animals to keep it 

 closely grazed they feed only in spots. 



Bermuda is so aggressive that few other plants will 

 grow with it during summer. Lespedeza will hold its own 

 in spots and the combination of the two is excellent. 



