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our best grass for spring grazing, but since drought and Japanese Clover have become 

 common, we have very little u Sedge." It did not grow until frosts were over; we 

 need an earlier variety. Rye is about all we have for early grazing. Kentucky Blue 

 Grass grows at the proper season, but the land will not produce it freely enough to 

 make it valuable. It grows finely in a garden or where an old barn and stack- lot has 

 stood for a long time. Common Red Clover does well in similar lands, but such lauds 

 cannot be afforded for such purposes ; in fact, if all the valuable land in the two 

 counties was in grass, the supply would not meet the demand, and the grain crops 

 would be ruled out, which would be a worse calamity than the absence of grass. 

 During the summer months our common " Crab Grass " is the best we have for pasture. 

 It grows on wheat stubble-fields if we have plenty of rain. 



It will require the greatest practicable diversity of crops, with all the skill and 

 labor available, to save this portion of the country from ruin. 



William W. Bailey, Hawthorne, Northern Florida : 



The greatest demand for Florida is a winter grass to keep the stock from suffering 

 in November, December, January, and February. The Johnston, Para, and Bermuda 

 Grasses solve the problem for summer grasses, but, practically speaking, they stop 

 growing with the first frost. Can't you think of some grass suiting light sandy soils, 

 which will send its root deep into the ground for its support, and not be easily dam- 

 aged by frosts ? Rye has been our only dependence so far for winter pasture, but it 

 must be sown every year. 



E. L. Jackson, Saint Maurice, Winn Parish, Louisiana : 



We, in this county, have paid no attention to the grasses, and but little to the 

 rearing of stock. A little corn and oats upon which to feed our mules while cultivat- 

 ing ''king cotton" is all we have wanted; but we are retrograding, and I hope 

 through your efforts a better system of agriculture and a brighter future is dawning 

 for the Southern farmer. 



J. K. Russe, Duffan Wells, Erath County, Northern Texas : 



In this locality it is very droughty at least half of the time, and it has not been 

 considered a farming country until within the last seven or eight years. Farming 

 thus far has only been on a small scale, but have enlarged as the cattle have been driven 

 out. The range is a thing of the past here now, and farmers are sadly in need of 

 grasses for their stock. As yet nothing has been tried except Johnson Grass, and that 

 spreads so rapidly and is so difficult to subdue that farmers are afraid of it. 



F. P. Margot, Benton, Saline County, Central Arkansas : 



We are in need of more and better forage plants, so as to have pasture during the 

 dry and hot summer months. This part of the State is high and hilly (except along 

 the rivers). Most of the upland is gravelly, sand and clay mixed, with a red-clay 

 subsoil at a depth of from 1 to 4 feet. The common Red Clover seems to grow all 

 right until the dry spell sets in, but has not proved with me to be a reasonable suc- 

 cess. 



C. H. Walker, Surprise, Butler County, Eastern Nebraska : 



I desire to say that in regard to the tame grasses, it appears to me that your De- 

 partment might be of great service to the West. I can speak assuredly of Nebraska. 

 A residence of nearly thirty years in that State, and a careful observation during that 

 time, have enabled me to notice remarkable changes of opinion that have taken place. 

 Until within a recent period it has not been thought that the tame grasses would 

 flourish here, repeated experiments proving failures ; but recently success has been the 

 rule. Our experience, however, has been confined principally to Red Clover, Timothy, 

 and Blue Grass, the latter not meeting with the favor of farmers. There are other 

 grasses that should be tested here, and I venture to suggest that in my judgment the 

 Department could do no better service to Nebraska than by introducing grass seeds 

 that are not found in our markets. 



