BERMUDA GRASS. 9 



be done either by hand or by using a wheelbarrow seeder. In any 

 case it is better to sow only half the seed the first time the field is 

 gone over, and then the other half while going over the field at right 

 angles to the direction in which the first half was sown, so as to cover 

 skips and balks. If possible, a roller should be used for covering the 

 seeds, but if that is not available a light smoothing harrow or a drag 

 made of brush may be employed. The covering should always be 

 very shallow; therefore the use of a roller is of great advantage, as it 

 packs and firms the soil without covering the seeds too deeply. 



When the seed is planted in the spring on well-prepared soil, the 

 plants will cover the ground by midsummer and will give a cutting 

 for hay or a considerable, amount of pasturage in the fall. It is 

 useless to plant seed on poorly prepared land. Ground seeded in the 

 spring should not be pastured until the sod has become so dense that 

 it will not be injured by trampling. When bare spots are found they 

 can be filled in easily by transplanting " roots" from the thicker 

 places at any time during the summer. 



Roots and cuttings are used in propagation much more commonly 

 than seeds. In planting, fresh sods about an inch in thickness should 

 be taken up, either by using a spade or a plow, and then torn into 

 very small pieces for distribution. It is common practice to plow 

 furrows 4 to 6 feet apart, then drop pieces of sod every 2 or 3 feet and 

 cover with the foot. This method of planting is very inexpensive 

 and answers well where the land is to be used as a pasture, but it 

 leaves the surface of the ground too rough and uneven for a good 

 meadow. When the entire surface is plowed, the pieces may be 

 dropped 2 or 3 feet apart and pushed into the soil with a forked stick, 

 such as is used in planting sweet potatoes, and then stepped on, to 

 firm the soil and prevent drying out. 



Another method is to plow the old sod very shallow, harrow until 

 the roots are well loosened, rake into piles or windrows, and load into 

 a wagon. The wagon is then driven across the freshly prepared 

 field in which the planting is to be. done and the roots dropped about 

 2 feet apart in the wheel tracks and covered with the foot. The 

 ground should be gone over twice, lapping the spaces, so that the 

 rows will be only half as far apart as the distance between the wheels. 

 An ordinary wagon box will hold enough roots to plant 1 to 2 acres, 

 depending on how finely the roots are divided and how carefully the 

 work is done. When planted in this way the grass will cover the 

 ground in a few weeks and the total expense, including the prepara- 

 tion of the ground, need not be more than $5 per acre for the labor 

 employed. 



When a field is to be planted for a meadow it should be prepared 

 as carefully as for seeding. Since it is to be a permanent field for 

 84445 Bull. 81417 2 



