JOHNSON GRASS 365 



summer heat in the bright sun; it will not do well in shade, and 

 succumbs to the first frost. 



It is so persistent that it will grow on almost any soil, but of 

 course is much larger and more vigorous on good soil. It is one of 

 the best soil binding grasses known, especially for sandy soils. While 

 well adapted to pasture or lawn purposes, it is often too short for 



hay- 

 Culture and Yield. Seed is rather expensive, and as it is very 

 small, the ground should be thoroughly prepared and well packed 

 before it is sown. About five pounds of seed per acre is required. It 

 should usually be sown alone, as it is easily killed out by shade. The 

 roots of Bermuda grass are so persistent that it can easily be dis- 

 tributed by scattering the sod. The general custom is to break up 

 sods into small pieces and scatter these in furrows about three feet 

 apart. If care is exercised, a cultivated crop can be grown on the 

 same land the first year while the Bermuda grass is getting a start. 

 When cut for hay, it is cut about three times during the season. 

 The yield is usually not large, the total product of the three cuttings 

 amounting to about a ton or a ton and a half under average 

 conditions. 



Mixtures for Bermuda Grass. Bermuda grass is so persistent 

 that no other forage crop can usually grow with it during the sum- 

 mer months. In some cases, however, the Japanese clover or 

 lespedeza will succeed with it, and greatly increase the summer 

 pasture. 



Burr clover is highly recommended to mix with Bermuda grass 

 for pasture. Burr clover grows during the fall and winter months, 

 producing pasture when the Bermuda grass is dead. The burr clover 

 usually reseeds sufficiently so that it is not necessary to resow it 

 each year. It has also been found advisable to sow Italian rye-grass 

 with Bermuda in the fall. This makes an excellent winter pasture, 

 but dies out about the time Bermuda begins to grow the next season. 



JOHNSON GRASS 



Johnson grass is a large, coarse-growing grass closely related to 

 the sorghums, but differs in being more slender and smaller in size, 

 and in having strong perennial underground root stalks. It was 



