(61) 



sheep will go into the winter sleek and fat from this vigor- 

 ous grass. Others regard it as wellnigh worthless. 



It freely propagates itself in all woods where the cover- 

 ing of leaves is not so great as to exclude the r?jys of the 

 sun from the soil. Like other grasses, it does best on good 

 lands, and the rich,Tblack, loamy woods in many parts of 

 the State are set with it. 



It is said to be an excellent butter making grass, and 

 gives a particularly fine flavor to this article of food. It has 

 never, to the knowledge of the writer, been sown, though, 

 as it produces seed in a limited quantity, there is no reason 

 why it should not be, if it is really a valuable grass. 



BERMUDA GRASS. SCUTCH GRASS. (Cynodon dactylm.) 



Bermuda grass is a native of the West Indies, and is the 

 principal grass of that torrid country. It has only lately 

 been brought into notice as a valuable pasture grass for this 

 State. In Louisiana, Texas and the South generally, it is, 

 and has been, the chief reliance for pasture for a long time, 

 and the immense herds of cattle on the southern prairies 

 subsist principally on this food. It revels on sandy soils, 

 and has been grown extensively on the sandy hills of Vir- 

 ginia and North and South Carolina. From the extreme 

 vitality of its long, rhizome roots, it is very difficult to erad- 

 icate when once it gets a good foothold. Occasionally the 

 traveler meets with patches of Bermuda grass in the cotton 

 fields of the South, and it is carefully avoided by the planter, 

 any disturbance giving a new start to its vigorous roots. 

 Some ditch around it, and others enclose it and let shrub- 

 bery do the work of destruction. It is used extensively on 

 the southern rivers to hold the levees and the embankments 

 of the roads. It is the only yard grass in that section. It 

 forms a sward so tough it is almost impossible for a plow to 



