270 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



should, on rich land, be not nearer than six feet apart, and 

 the cuttings be set from three to four feet in the rows. 



Para grass is a splendid hay-producer, and even on poor 

 land is very quick to cover the ground. It is extremely 

 nutritious, and all kinds of stock are very fond of it. 



It can be made into a pasture, or lawn, simply by plant- 

 ing broadcast, and, as in the former case, turning cattle in 

 upon it. On the lawn, however, the scythe and mower 

 must needs take the place of these animated clipping ma- 

 chines. 



The best time for cutting is just as it manifests an incli- 

 nation to go to seed, which attempt, as we have seen, will 

 only prove ''love's labor lost." Para grass in Florida is 

 never "seedy," though it always ''goes to grass." 



"Sweet Beggar's-Lice," or Indian clover (and we prefer 

 the latter name as being less unpleasantly suggestive) is a 

 plant of great value to the Southern farmer, and one that 

 deserves to be better known than it is. 



For pasture, for forage, and for turning under as a fer- 

 tilizer, it has no superior, if in truth it has an equal. 



Botanically the plant is termed Desmodium canesceris. 

 It is leguminous, and yields a large amount of rather flat 

 seeds of an oval-triangular shape, very oily, and tasting 

 like that of the pea, whose leaves, by the way, those of 

 this plant resemble. 



And just here we will caution our readers not to mistake 

 for Indian clover that obnoxious weed, bearing a burr-like 

 fruit or nut with hooked prickers, which in the North is 

 usually known as "Beggar's Lice." We have met the lat- 

 ter ourself many a time, and have retired from the field 

 routed and blessing the weed for its numerous sharp-point- 

 ed remarks, whose sting often abided with us for hours 

 afterward. The ' ' Beggar's Lice " of Florida is of a far 

 different character. It is tender and useful, not tough 



