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GAM A GKASS (Tripsacum dactyloides.) 



This is in some sections called sesame grass. It is the 

 largest and one of the most beautiful grasses we have, 

 growing to the height of seven feet. It is abundant through- 

 out the Mississippi Valley, on moist, slushy places. When 

 young and succulent it is eaten with avidity by stock, and 

 makes, from its rapid growth, a good soiling or forage crop, 

 but when it gets large its stem is so woody stock refuse to 

 eat it. Its leaves are very large, equal in size to the leaves 

 of corn, but they are rough and hairy. 



The grass may be cut three or four times a year, and 

 though in its native state it grows in swamps, it thrives almost 

 equally well on dry or sandy ridges. It will grow where 

 timothy or Herd's grass will not, and consequently is well 

 suited to a large section of our State. The quantity of hay 

 taken from one acre is simply enormous, and resembles 

 very much corn fodder, and as a hay is fully equal to it, and 

 it can be saved at one- tenth the labor required to save fod- 

 der. The roots are strong and large as cane roots, so let 

 it be sown where it will not be desired to remove it. How- 

 ever, close grazing for a few years will destroy it. 



It is very nutritious and succulent when cut green. The 

 great mass of roots it has will serve to open, loosen and im- 

 prove the land upon which it grows. It should never be 

 allowed to shoot up the seed stem when desired for hay. 



It is with difficulty the seed can be made to vegetate, and 

 therefore it must be propagated by slips from the roots. 

 Prepare the land well, lay off the furrows with a bull-tongue 

 plow two feet apart, and drop a small piece of root about 

 two feet apart in the furrow, covering with a board. The 

 creeping roots will soon meet, and the ground is quickly 

 turfed with it. It should be planted early in September. 

 Of course, the richer the land, whether upland or bottom, 

 the greater the yield, as the time has never yet come when 

 poor land will make better crops of anything than fertile 

 land. I have seen it growing with great luxuriance in 

 Montgomery county. 



