132 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
be dragged out with a harrow; Johnson grass suc- 
cumbs to the ordinary treatment of alfalfa fields. But 
when Bermuda grass gets a start it cannot be eradi- 
cated without destroying the alfalfa. The land must 
be entirely freed from Bermuda before seeding to 
alfalfa, or failure is certain. These are serious charges 
against this great pasture-grass. Yet, except in 
Florida, southern Arizona, and southern California, 
Bermuda grass seldom produces seed, and it is there- 
fore comparatively easy to keep it out of fields where 
itis not wanted. Where it produces seed abundantly it 
runs riot everywhere and cannot be controlled. In 
the three localities named above it usually produces 
abundant seed, and is there the worst pest known. 
Under no circumstances should it be introduced upon 
a farm in latitudes where it produces seed. 
While Bermuda grass is tenacious of life, it does 
not produce a great abundance of deep underground 
stems, as Johnson grass does. It spreads by long, 
creeping stems, which remain at or near the surface 
of the ground. It can be completely killed at one 
operation by plowing about one and one-half to two 
inches deep with a good, sharp turning-plow during 
dry, hot weather in summer, or just before a cold 
snap in winter. In the one case the stems are killed 
by drying, in the other by freezing. 
It has already been stated that Bermuda grass does 
not stand shading well. It is, therefore, possible to 
smother it out by rank-growing crops. On this point 
Professor Dodson, of the Louisiana Experiment Station, 
says: ‘‘ By breaking the sod shallow in December, and 
following with a crop that produces dense shade, such 
