108 THE GRASSES OF TENNESSEE. 



makes from its rapid growth a good soiling or forage crop, 

 but when it gets large its stem is so woody stock refuse to 

 eat it. Its leaves are very large, equal in size to the leaves 

 of corn, but they are rough and hairy. 



The grass may be cut three or four times a year, and 

 though in its native state it grows in swamps, it thrives almost 

 equally well on dry or sandy ridges. It will grow where 

 timothy or herds' grass will not, and consequently is well 

 suited to a large section of our Sfete. The quantity of hay 

 taken from one acre is simply enormous, and resembles 

 very much corn fodder, and as a hay is fully equal to it, 

 and it can be saved at one tenth the labor required to save 

 fodder. The roots are as strong and large as cane roots, so 

 let it be sown where it will not be desired to remove it. 

 However, close grazing for a few years will destroy it. 



It is very nutritious and succulent when cut green. The 

 great mass of roots it has will serve to open, loosen and 

 improve the land upon which it grows. It should never be 

 allowed to shoot up the seed stem when desired for hay. 



It is with difficulty the seed can be made to vegetate, and 

 therefore it must be propagated by slips from the roots. 

 Prepare the land well, lay off the furrows with a bull- 

 tongue plow two feet apart, and drop a sro^ll piece of root 

 about two feet apart in the furrow, covering with a board. 

 The creeping roots will soon meet, and the ground is quickly 

 turfed with it. It should be planted early in September. 

 Of course, the richer the land, whether upland or bottom, 

 the greater the yield, as the time has never yet come when 

 poor land will make better crops of anything than fertile 

 land. ,1 have seen it growing with great luxuriance in 

 Montgomery county. 



EGYPTIAN GRASS (Dactyloctenium Eyypticum). 



This grass is a native of Virginia, and has diffuse stems, often creep- 

 ing at the base ; spikes four or five, leaves hairy at the base. 



This is an annual grass, is found in yards, is very trouble- 

 some, and is entirely worthless. It is not a meadow grass 



