132 FARM GRASSES OP THE UNITED STATES 



be dragged out with a harrow ; Johnson grass suc- 

 cumbs to the ordinary treatment of alfalfa fields. But 

 when Bermuda grass gets a start it cannot be eradi- 

 cated without destroying the alfalfa. The land must 

 be entirely freed from Bermuda before seeding to 

 alfalfa, or failure is certain. These are serious charges 

 against this great pasture-grass. Yet, except in 

 Florida, southern Arizona, and southern California, 

 Bermuda grass seldom produces seed, and it is there- 

 fore comparatively easy to keep it out of fields where 

 it is not wanted. Where it produces seed abundantly it 

 runs riot everywhere and cannot be controlled. In 

 the three localities named above it usually produces 

 abundant seed, and is there the worst pest known. 

 Under no circumstances should it be introduced upon 

 a farm in latitudes where it produces seed. 



While Bermuda grass is tenacious of life, it does 

 not produce a great abundance of deep underground 

 stems, as Johnson grass does. It spreads by long, 

 creeping stems, which remain at or near the surface 

 of the ground. It can be completely killed at one 

 operation by plowing about one and one-half to two 

 inches deep with a good, sharp turning-plow during 

 dry, hot weather in summer, or just before a cold 

 snap in winter. In the one case the stems are killed 

 by drying, in the other by freezing. 



It has already been stated that Bermuda grass does 

 not stand shading well. It is, therefore, possible to 

 smother it out by rank-growing crops. On this point 

 Professor Dodson, of the I,ouisiana Experiment Station, 

 says : ' ' By breaking the sod shallow in December, and 

 following with a crop that produces dense shade, such 



