PASTURAGE. 261 



CHAPTER XVII. 



PASTURAGE. 



While it is not within the province of this present work 

 to enter exhaustively into the question of a fodder-supply 

 for the "family friend," whose value we have been consid- 

 ering, we know that the new settler will need at once a 

 few items of information in this direction ; hence the sub- 

 ject of pasturage. A permanent " meadow-land" will not 

 come amiss, as its prej)aration should be one of the first 

 things attended to. 



The subject of pasture grasses for Florida is one that is 

 just now exciting much attention, as its vast importance 

 is coming to be understood and appreciated. 



Bermuda grass has probably been better proven in Flor- 

 ida, at the present time, than any other, because it was 

 literally one of the first in the field. This name of " Ber- 

 muda" is not to be understood as signifying that the grass 

 originally, or indeed ever, came from the island of Ber- 

 muda. It is simply a corruption, and a very natural one 

 too, of the name of its introducer into the United States. 

 Some years ago a Captain Permudy sailed into the port 

 of (we think) Charleston, hailing from Africa. Among 

 other plants and seeds, he brought a few roots of the grass, 

 which at first was known by his name ; but soon, as we 

 have seen, was credited with that of '' Bermuda." 



Now, Bermuda grass never matures seed north of Flor- 

 ida, and not abundantly even here, and consequently is 

 propagated altogether by roots. * ' Pick up a sprig, throw 

 it down, and in five years it will be all over your place, 

 even if it falls on a rock," is what some people will say to 

 the "anxious inquirer" as to how to plant Bermuda grass. 



