140 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
and there a farmer who speaks a good word for it. In 
some States there are laws against the sale of the seed. 
While there is no question as to the value of the grass 
for hay production, it is doubtful whether a farmer is 
justified in introducing Johnson grass even on a stock- 
farm in the South. What position it would hold in 
the agriculture of the South should livestock farming 
become general there it is difficult to say. If it should 
prove to be possible, by selection or crossing, to secure 
a variety with less formidable rootstocks, so that it 
could be killed as easily as blue-grass is in the North, 
it would become the great hay grass of the South. 
-The difficulty in eradicating Johnson grass is due 
to the fact that it produces long, underground stems 
which possess great vitality. It is well-nigh impos- 
sible to free the soil completely from these ‘‘ roots,’’ as 
they are called. They are not roots at all, but are 
underground stems, having joints, with a rudimentary 
leaf and a bud at each joint. A small piece of root- 
stock having a bud on it will develop a new plant if 
given half a chance. By plowing the land in the fall 
and harrowing out the major portion of the root- 
stocks it is possible to grow an exeellent crop of corn 
or cotton the next year practically free from Johnson 
grass; but by another year the pieces of rootstock 
left in the ground by the harrow re-establish the grass 
sufficiently to make it troublesome. The third year it 
is usually as bad as ever. 
The difficulty in dealing with this weed is greatly 
increased by the implements used for tillage on many 
Southern farms. To check the grass effectively a good 
two-horse turning-plow is absolutely necessary, an im- 
