BERMUDA GRASS. 13 



BERMUDA GRASS FOR HAY. 



The yield of Bermuda grass for hay, as well as for pasture, varies 

 greatly with soil and location. On dry, clay hills at the Mississippi 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, when fertilized with 10 tons of 

 stable manure per acre it has yielded at the rate of 2i tons per acre. 

 On the black prairie lands of eastern Mississippi and Alabama it 

 yields 1 to 1J tons per acre at each of two cuttings, while on the rich 

 alluvial lands along the Mississippi and Red Rivers it gives 2 to 3 

 tons per acre at each of two or three cuttings. The Report of the 

 Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station for 1907 records a yield 

 of 11,704 pounds of dry hay per acre, and Prof. J. S. Newman, in 

 Bulletin No. 76 of the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, reports 13,000 pounds of dry hay per acre. In the South 

 Carolina Report for 1888 Dr. St. J. Ravenel mentions a yield of 10 

 tons per acre. Other growers report equally good or even heavier 

 yields. 



In the southern and western parts of its territory and on the 

 immediate Gulf coast, Bermuda grass seldom grows large enough to 

 be profitable for hay, but in the central part of the Southern States 

 it is a valuable and reliable hay plant on all rich and fairly moist 

 soils. 



Both meadows and pastures are likely to become somewhat sod 

 bound after having been in Bermuda grass a few years. In pastures 

 this may be almost wholly prevented by planting lespedeza, bur 

 clover, melilotus, or some other legume. 



Legumes, however, are less practicable in meadows, and there 

 the sod must be broken up by plowing or disking. Some growers 

 use an ordinary mole subsoil plow for this purpose, running the plow 

 3 to 4 inches deep and making the furrows about a foot apart. This 

 is very satisfactory, as it loosens the soil and still leaves the surface 

 smooth. A heavy disking will accomplish the same purpose, but 

 should be followed by a smoothing harrow or a heavy roller to 

 smooth the surface. 



As long as a meadow or a pasture is giving a satisfactory yield it 

 should not bft disturbed. 



BERMUDA GRASS FOR TURF. 



Bermuda grass makes an excellent sod for lawns and golf grounds, 

 as it forms an even turf without clumps or coarse stems. It is 

 easily kept clipped with a lawn mower, and as it recovers quickly 

 it gives a smooth and even surface. The greatest objection to it for 

 the purpose is that it becomes browned after the first severe frost and 

 so is not attractive in appearance during the winter. That, however, 

 can be easily overcome by seeding the lawn with Italian rye-grass 

 in the early fall. This grass comes up very quickly, bears clipping 



