10 FARMERS' BULLETIN 814. 



mowing and will be used many years for that purpose, all bumps 

 and hollows should be smoothed off , so that water can not stand in low 

 spots and the mowing machine and rake may run over it smoothly 

 and not be injured by racking. While Bermuda grass will make 

 some sort of a growth in almost any field it can never make a satis- 

 factory meadow if the ground is not well prepared and made smooth 

 before planting. As good soil and as thorough preparation are 

 needed to make a good meadow as to make a good crop of corn or 

 cotton. 



When roots are used for planting they should always be protected 

 from the sun as much as possible. When loaded into a wagon they 

 should be wet down and covered with a blanket or old sacks to pre- 

 vent them from becoming dry. 



As is stated elsewhere, different varieties of Bermuda grass vary 

 greatly in hardiness. Some are killed by very moderate frosts, 

 while others, usually those with deep-running rootstocks, bear 

 heavy freezes without injury. For this reason it is safer in the 

 northern parts of the Bermuda region to propagate from near-by 

 old fields, as these plants have proved themselves hardy. While 

 seeds may make an abundance of thrifty plants, many of them are 

 likely to be killed by the first severe winter. Farther south, seeds 

 may be used with greater safety. 



Whatever method may be followed in planting it will often be 

 necessary to mow the field a few weeks afterwards to prevent weeds 

 from shading and choking out the young Bermuda-grass plants. 



PASTURE VALUE. 



Bermuda grass is the foundation of all good permanent pastures 

 in the South. It is the best pasture grass in the region from the 

 Carolinas westward to California on soils of fair fertility and with 

 even moderate rainfall, although on the very dry lands of New 

 Mexico and Arizona it is less productive than curly mesquite and 

 buffalo grasses. It bears heavy grazing and trampling with little 

 injury, recovers quickly when grazed down, and is eaten greedily 

 by all kinds of live stock. Even the rootstocks are so tender and 

 juicy that they are well liked by hogs. It should be used as the 

 principal grass in the making of all permanent pastures in the region 

 shaded in figure 2, and should be supplemented by whatever other 

 grazing plants grow well in each special locality. 



As it is killed to the ground by the first severe frost, it usually 

 gives good grazing only through the summer and fall months, though 

 in the southern portions of Florida and Texas it frequently remains 

 green and gives good feed through the entire year. In California 

 it furnishes good grazing about nine months. In Oklahoma it is 

 green from April to October. In Virginia Bermuda grass and lespe- 



