202 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
DESCRIPTION OF GRASSES 
Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon (1,.) Pers.). By 
its strongly creeping habit, resistance to heat, drouth, 
grazing, and trampling, and its adaptability to both 
sandy and clayey soil, this grass is of the greatest 
value for Southern lawns. The objections to it are 
that the foliage is not resistant to frost, though the 
plant does not winter-kill below the latitude of Wash- 
ington and St. Louis. It is also hard to eradicate, and 
spreads readily from the lawn to adjacent fields and 
gardens. The objection to its being non-resistant to 
frost is in part overcome by sowing a winter grass with 
it each fall. The Bermuda sod is cut up with a disk- 
harrow, and the seed sown thereon. Italian rye-grass 
has been successfully used for this purpose. Bermuda 
grass can be started either from seed or cuttings. Eight 
to ten pounds of seed will be sufficient in well-prepared 
soil. The cuttings may be made by running clean turf 
through a fodder-cutter, or chopping it by hand, and 
planting the pieces in shallow furrows a foot or so 
apart. The land must be leveled after planting, or the 
use of the lawn-mower will be very difficult. 
St. Lucie grass is a variety of Bermuda grass which 
is said not to root so deeply in the earth and to be 
slightly more resistant to frost. It is found in eastern 
Florida. St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum dimidia- 
tum) is found along the southern Atlantic Coast from 
Maryland southward. In habit it is much like Ber- 
muda grass, but is coarser, with broader leaves, and 
is more easily eradicated. It has been used for lawns 
to some extent in the Carolinas and Florida. Korean 
