134 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
tion that it is the best and most available pasture-grass 
in the cotton region. 
There is a distin variety of this grass in Florida, 
known as St. Lucie grass, that possesses many advan- 
tages over Bermuda grass. It grows larger, does not 
produce seed even in Florida, and remains green 
throughout the year. Its trailing stems form a 
dense mat that can be lifted up like a carpet, and 
are strictly above the ground. It is much preferred to 
Bermuda grass in Florida because it yields more herb- 
age and is easily controlled. St. Lucie grass has not 
been given the attention in most parts of the South 
which it seems to merit. It is not known how far 
north it will-thrive. It lived through the severe win- 
ter of 1903-04 in the grass-garden of the Department 
of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., and probably has 
nearly as wide a sphere of usefulness as Bermuda grass 
itself. It would probably be less difficult to eradicate 
than Bermuda grass, and would be likely to furnish as 
much or more feed. W.H. Haskel, of Florida, in a 
letter to the Department of Agriculture, speaking of 
the relative merits of these two grasses, says: 
‘“St. Lucie grass is so superior to Bermuda grass 
that it seems to me to deserve special mention. Ber- 
muda grass, in the agricultural section of Florida, is 
considered an unmitigated nuisance, because of the 
impossibility of exterminating it. Another disad- 
vantage in it as a lawn grass, even here in a sub- 
tropical region, is that it becomes dormant and brown 
during winter, just when we want a lawn grass to 
look best. It is not nearly so rapid a grower for pas- 
tures as St. Lucie grass. Now the opposite of all 
