GRASSES OF MINOR IMPORTANCE 185 



hay per acre. The hay is remarkable for its lightness, 

 a ton of it being much more bulky than a like weight 

 of other kinds of hay. Horses and cattle nearly starve 

 before they acquire a taste for velvet-grass, but when 

 the taste is once acquired they thrive upon it remark- 

 ably well, showing that it is highly nutritious. The 

 whole plant is covered by a growth of wool-like hairs, 

 from which facl the name is derived. It is unworthy 

 of attention except on the classes of soils above men- 

 tioned. On these soils it drives out all other grasses. 



MISCELLANEOUS GRASSES 



CRAB-GRASS {Panicum sanguinale). This grass 

 (Fig. 38.) is of considerable importance in the South. 

 Its distribution is shown in Fig. 39. It is not a culti- 

 vated grass in the ordinary sense, as its seed is never 

 sown. It comes up as a weed in corn-fields after the 

 last cultivation, and furnishes no inconsiderable amount 

 of pasture. A considerable proportion of the hay pro- 

 duced in the South is made from this volunteer growth 

 of crab-grass. The yield is light, seldom exceeding a 

 ton per acre, and the hay is of only moderate quality. 

 It has a very good standing with Southern farmers, 

 but is not often seen on the markets. It is mostly fed 

 on the farms where it is grown. 



CARPET-GRASS {Panicum compressum). This is 

 an important pasture-grass in eastern Texas, Louisiana, 

 southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and parts of 

 Florida. It sends out long, creeping stems which root 

 at the joints, and form a very dense, even carpet of 

 sod, whence its name. Stock are very fond of it, and 

 it is highly prized where it grows. On sandy lands 



