TOR THE SOUTAERN STATES. 85 
i nn nnn en ee i erro A eee et 
grasses, to make good hay, it must be 
cut before passing the blossom stage, as 
after that it deteriorates rapidly. The 
roots being short, it does not bear 
drought well, and exhausts the soil, 
dying out in a few years. In these re- 
spects it is Hable to the same objections 
as Timothy. The stem, one to two [cet 
high, has four to six purplisk joints and 
as many dark green leaves; the flexious 
spiked panicle, bearing tne distant 
spikelets, one in each bend. 
It should be sown in August or Sep- 
tember, at the rate of tweaty-five or 
thirty pounds, or one bushel seed per 
acre. 
TALL MEADOW OAT GRASS. 
(Arrhenatherum Avenaceum.) 
Evergreen grassin Virginia, and other 
Southern States, and it is the Tall Oat 
(Avena elatior) of Linzwus. It is closely 
related to the common oat, and has a 
beautiful open panicle, leaning slightly 
to one side. “Spikelets two flowered, 
and a rudiment of a third, open; lowest 
flower staminate or sterile, with a long 
bent awn below the middle of the back.’’ 
—Flint;) 
itis widely naturalized and well adapt- 
ed toa great variety of soils. Onsandy, 
or gravelly soils, it succeeds admirably, 
growing two or three feet high. On 
rich, dry upland it grows from five to 
seven feet high. It has an abundance 
of perennial, long fibrous roots, pene- 
trating deeply in the soil, being, there- 
fore, less affected by drought or cold, 
and enabled to yield a large quantity 
of foliage, winter and summer. These 
advantages render it one of the very best 
grasses for the South, both for grazing 
(being evergreen) and for hay, admitting 
of being cut twice a year. Itis probably 
the best winter grass that can be ob- 
tained. 
It will make twice as much hay as 
Timothy, and containing a greater 
quantity of alouminoids and less of heat- 
producing principles, itis better adapted 
to the uses of the Southern farmer, 
while it exhausts the surface soil less, 
and may be grazed indefinitely, except 
after mowing. To make good hay it 
must be cut the instant it blooins, and, 
after being cut, must not get wet by dew 
or rain, which damages it greatly in 
quality and appearance. 
For green soiling, it may be cut four 
or five times with favorable seasons. 
Tn from six to ten days after blooming, 
the seeds begin to ripen and fall, the 
upper ones first. Itis, therefore, a little 
troublesome to save the seed. As soon 
_ as those at the top of the panicle ripen 
sufficiently to begin to drop, the heads 
should be cut off and dried, when the 
seeds will all thresh out readily and be 
matured. After the seeds are ripe and 
taken off, the long abundant leaves and 
stems are still green, and being mowed 
make good hay. 
It may be sown in March or April, 
and mowed the same season; but for 
heavier yield, it is better to sow in Sep- 
tember or October. Along the more 
southernly beit, from the 31° parallel 
southward, it may be sown in November 
and onward till the middle of December. 
Whenever sown it is one of the most 
certain grasses to have a good ¢atch. 
Not less than two bushels (24 pounds) 
per acreshould besown. Lik: Timothy, 
on inhospitable soils, the root may 
sometimes become bulbous. ‘The aver- 
‘age annual nutrition yielded by this 
grass in the Southern belt, is probably 
twice as great as in Pennsylvania and 
other Northern States. 
JOHNSON GRASS. 
(Sorghum halapense.) 
This has been called Cuba grass, 
Egyptian grass, Means grass, Alabama 
and Guinea grass, ete. 
It seems pretty well agreed now, how- 
ever, to call it Johuson grass, and leave 
the name Guinea grass for the Panicum 
jumentorum, to which it properly be- 
longs. 
