202 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



DESCRIPTION OF GRASSES 



Bermuda grass {Cynodon dadylon (L.) 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 objedlion to its being iion-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. IvUcie 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 {Ste7iotaphru7n 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 



