TWO PROMINENT SOUTHERN GRASSES = 135 
these adverse qualities is possessed by the St. Lucie. 
If a change in the field is desired, St. Lucie grass is as 
easily killed out as crab-grass. It grows the year 
around, except when temporarily set back by a freeze. 
Then, if burned off or cut off, in two weeks it comes 
out green as ever.’’ It would probably not remain 
green in winter as far north as central Alabama, but 
its other advantages make it worth trying both for 
lawn and as a pasture grass over the whole South. 
The price of Bermuda grass seed runs ordinarily 
from 75 cents to $1.00 per pound, sometimes more. 
The supply comes almost entirely from Australia. It 
is one of the most unreliable seeds on the market, a 
fact probably due to improper methods of handling in 
curing and shipping. Even the best of Bermuda seed 
is very uncertain. Some time ago the writer went over 
all the reports received by the Department of Agricul- 
ture from farmers to whom this seed had been sent for 
several years past. Out of a dozen men reporting on 
seed from the same lot three or four would report a 
perfect stand, the others total failures. For this seed 
to germinate, the conditions must be exa¢tly ideal: 
the soil prepared with the greatest care, amply supplied 
with moisture, be thoroughly warm, and the weather 
must be favorable for a considerable period after sow- 
ing. On account of the uncertainty of this method of 
securing a stand of Bermuda grass the seed is seldom 
sown. 
The more usual, and by far the most reliable, way 
is to plant small pieces of sod. The methods of doing 
this are nearly as numerous as there are Bermuda 
grass growers. Usually a piece of sod is plowed as 
