142 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
system of crop rotation, and the thorough working of 
the soil common in the north of England and in many 
parts of this country, Johnson grass would not be a pest, 
but a valuable adjunct to the list of farm crops. ‘The 
climate cf the entire Johnson grass area permits at 
least two crops a year to be grown on every acre of 
land. Accrop of winter grain, hay, and one or two 
summer crops of cow-pea hay or sorghum hay can be 
grown on the worst infested land, with little or no in- 
terference from the grass, if the land is thoroughly 
plowed and harrowed before planting each crop. 
Better than all, however, on land adapted to it, and 
this includes nearly all the worst areas, alfalfa can be 
sown on Johnson grass land with perfect success. To 
do this the land should be plowed and the rootstocks 
thoroughly harrowed out early in the fall. If, after 
this, a good beating rain comes to firm the soil, all the 
better. Then sow the alfalfa, at the rate of 20 lbs. of 
seed per acre, early enough in the fall for it to get a 
good start before cold weather. The next summer 
cut it promptly every time it gets high enough to make 
a fair cropof hay. This treatment helps the alfalfa 
and greatly discourages the Johnson grass. As alfalfa 
makes four or five crops of hay a year in the South 
(six to nine in some places), and Johnson grass only 
three, and as Johnson grass gradually declines in yield 
anyway, so that it yields very little three or four years 
after the last plowing, the alfalfa will, in a few years, 
be practically free from the grass. What little is left 
actually improves the quality of the alfalfa hay. 
After what has been said above it might seem su- 
perfluous to speak of the proper management of a 
