450 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



properly. When curing is well done, the forage is 

 nutritious and palatable. 



Japan clover {Lespedeza striata). Fig. 593. This 

 useful plant was first observed about 1850 at 

 Charleston, S. C. Since that time it has spread 

 throughout the cotton-belt and as far north as the 

 Ohio and Missouri rivers. It is found rather gener- 

 ally along roadsides and in waste ground. It fre- 

 quently comes up in old deserted fields, in all of 

 which situations it furnishes a considerable amount 

 of valuable pasture. It is available for pasture 

 from early summer till late in the fall. It seeds 

 abundantly and when once established, although it 

 is an annual, it is more or less permanent. The hay 

 is said to be of excellent quality. [See Lespedeza.] 



Fig. 674. Saccharine sorghum, grown for fodder. 



Sorghum (Fig. 674) is very largely used in the 

 South, in late summer, as a green feed for all 

 kinds of stock. It is not infrequently sown thick 

 and cut for hay. It is planted like either corn or. 

 wheat. In the former case one-half a gallon to a 

 gallon of seed is used ; in the latter case, half a 

 bushel to two bushels. [See Sorghum.] 



St. Augustine grass {Stenotaphrum secundatum), 

 Fig. 530, is adapted to a wide range of soils, but 

 seldom succeeds except near the coast. It is propa- 

 gated readily by root-cuttings or pieces of the sod. 

 Roots are formed wherever the joints touch the 

 ground. 



Texas blue-grass (Poa arachnifera), Fig. 546, is 

 a native of Texas, but it is now grown somewhat 

 widely in the southern states. It makes a good sod, 

 which remains green the year round. It makes its 

 principal growth during the winter, beginning in 

 October and furnishing pasture until April or May. 

 The seed is matured in April. In the summer 

 months it makes little growth. 



This grass would undoubtedly be more generally 

 grown if it were easier to propagate. It produces 

 an abundance of seed but is difficult to start from 

 seed. Cuttings of the rootstocks are used almost 

 entirely. They should be set about twelve inches 

 apart each way. The creeping rootstocks soon 

 occupy the ground. It does best on a rich loam, 



well prepared and having good drainage. Planting 

 may be done either in fall or spring, September 

 and October being preferable. If seed is used, it 

 should be drilled in, in rows about twelve inches 

 apart. 



Rescue-grass {Bromus unioloides), Fig. 559, does 

 best on a rich loam. It should be seeded in August 

 or September, at the rate of thirty to forty pounds 

 per acre. Farther north, where the summers are 

 not so warm, it may be seeded .in the spring and 

 be used for summer and fall pasture. When fall- 

 sown in the South, it grows rapidly and may fur- 

 nish pasture in December or January. The seed 

 will mature in March or April. If the conditions 

 are right, two cuttings may be had in a season, the 

 first one in the spring. If the seed is allowed to 

 mature in the spring, it will fall to the ground and 

 remain dormant until fall. In this way a perma- 

 nent stand may be secured, and the land may be 

 plowed and used for a summer crop during the 

 dormant period. 



III. The Gulf Coast Region 



This is one of the most distinct agricultural 

 regions in the United States. No distinct cropping 

 systems are developed, although agriculture is more 

 diversified in that section than in any other part 

 of the South. Cotton is relatively of small impor- 

 tance. Truck-growing perhaps stands first. Sugar- 

 cane is important. Some phases of fruit-growing, 

 especially in the southern part of the region, are 

 prominent. More live-stock is found in the Gulf 

 coast region than in any other southern territory. 

 This is especially true of southern Texas and of 

 central and southern Florida. In these sections, 

 however, live-stock is not strictly farm animals 

 but is run on ranges where the native grasses 

 furnish more or less abundant feed. 



The section has four more or less valuable hay and 

 pasture plants of identical habits. Three of these 

 are found mainly in the eastern gulf region, the 

 fourth almost wholly in the western. The three in 

 the east are crab-grass, beggarweed {Desmodium 

 tortuosum, also given as Meibomia tortuosa), and 

 Mexican clover (Richardsonia scabra). These all 

 come up volunteer on land that is cultivated in 

 spring and left undisturbed in summer. Frequently 

 two or three of them are found together. Colorado 

 grass, which is found principally in south-central 

 Texas, has the same habits. It is of no importance 

 except on alluvial soils, where volunteer crops 

 sometimes furnish two or three tons of hay per 

 acre. The hay is hard to cure because of its rank 

 growth, but is of excellent quality if cut before it 

 is too ripe. Crab-grass has already been discussed 

 (page 449). It is perhaps more important in the 

 Gulf coast region than it is in the cotton-belt. 

 One farmer in Florida makes a business of produc- 

 ing seed of this grass. Beggarweed (Figs. 305-307) 

 is used mostly for pasture and as a cover-crop, 

 though it is sometimes cut for hay and for silage. 

 The silage is said to be of unusually fine quality 

 for dairy cows. [See Beggarweed.] Mexican clover 

 has gradually spread over the eastern half of th^ 



