TWO PROMINENT SOUTHERN GRASSES 135 



these adverse qualities is possessed by the St. Lucie. 

 If a change in the field is desired, St. L,ucie grass is as . 

 easily killed out as crab-grass. It grows the year 

 around, except when temporarily set back by a freeze. 

 Then, if burned off or cut off, in two weeks it comes 

 out green as ever." It would probably not remain 

 green in winter as far north as central Alabama, but 

 its other advantages make it worth trying both for 

 lawn and as a pasture grass over the whole South. 



The price of Bermuda grass seed runs ordinarily 

 from 75 cents to $1.00 per pound, sometimes more. 

 The supply comes almost entirely from Australia. It 

 is one of the most unreliable seeds on the market, a 

 fact probably due to improper methods of handling in 

 curing and shipping. Even the best of Bermuda seed 

 is very uncertain. Some time ago the writer went over 

 all the reports received by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture from farmers to whom this seed had been sent for 

 several years past. Out of a dozen men reporting on 

 seed from the same lot three or four would report a 

 perfect stand, the others total failures. For this seed 

 to germinate, the conditions must be exactly ideal : 

 the soil prepared with the greatest care, amply supplied 

 with moisture, be thoroughly warm, and the weather 

 must be favorable for a considerable period after sow- 

 ing. On account of the uncertainty of this method of 

 securing a stand of Bermuda grass the seed is seldom 

 sown. 



The more usual, and by far the most reliable, way 

 is to plant small pieces of sod. The methods of doing 

 this are nearly as numerous as there are Bermuda 

 grass growers. Usually a piece of sod is plowed as 



