140 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



and there a farmer who speaks a good word for it. In 

 some States there are laws against the sale of the seed. 

 While there is no question as to the value of the grass 

 for hay production, it is doubtful whether a farmer is 

 justified in introducing Johnson grass even on a stock- 

 farm in the South. What position it would hold in 

 the agriculture of the South should livestock farming 

 become general there it is difficult to say. If it should 

 prove to be possible, by selection or crossing, to secure 

 a variety with less formidable rootstocks, so that it 

 could be killed as easily as blue-grass is in the North, 

 it would become the great hay grass of the South. 



The difficulty in eradicating Johnson grass is due 

 to the fact that it produces long, underground stems 

 which possess great vitality. It is well-nigh impos- 

 sible to free the soil completely from these " roots," as 

 they are called. They are not roots at all, but are 

 underground stems, having joints, with a rudimentary 

 leaf and a bud at each joint. A small piece of root- 

 stock having a bud on it will develop a new plant if 

 given half a chance. By plowing the land in the fall 

 and harrowing out the major portion of the root- 

 stocks it is possible to grow an excellent crop of corn 

 or cotton the next year practically free from Johnson 

 grass; but by another year the pieces of rootstock 

 left in the ground by the harrow re-establish the grass 

 sufficiently, to make it troublesome. The third year it 

 is usually as bad as ever. 



The difficulty in dealing with this weed is greatly 

 increased by the implements used for tillage on many 

 Southern farms. To check the grass effectively a good 

 two-horse turning-plow is absolutely necessary, an im- 



