52 



PETER HENDERSON & CO.— FARM SEEDS. 



GRASSES F0R THESOaTH # VEST 



" GR ASS IS Kl NQr 



"How the Farm Pays," value $2.50, is offered as a premiiim with every $20.00 order. "Garden and Farm Topics," value 

 $1.50, is offered as a premium with every $5.00 order. For particulars, see page 146. 



SAINFOIN, OR ESPARSETTE. (Onobrychis Sativa.) 



An excellent perennial Fodder Plant, growing to the height of about three feet, and flowering in June and July. Though new to this 

 country, it has been cultivated with great success for the past fiftj- years both in England and in France. It is naturally adapted for liglit, 

 chalky soils, and is without doubt the most important herbage and forage plant for the calcareous districts of any country. It may be 

 sown either broadcast or drilled, but the former is preferred. The seeds are large, and require to be covered deeper than those of Clover 

 or almost any other agricultural seed. If the broadcast system of sowing is preferred, it wiU require about five to six bushels per acre ; 

 if drilled, four to five bushels. In dry sections, we would recommend that it should be sown with half crop of barley or other grain to 

 shade it from the hot sun for the first summer. It will crop from seven to ten years, according to the nature of the soil. Its dura- 

 tion, however, may be greatly increased by judicious top-dressing. There has of late been considerable demand for this forage plant 

 in Oregon and California, where it seems to have found a home. Price, 20 cts. per lb. ; S12.00 per 100 lbs. (Weight, per bushel, 25 lbs.) 



TEXAS BEUE GRASS. (Poa Arachnifera.) 



This is an invaluable hardy winter Grass for the South, and the longest, driest and hottest summer fails 

 to injure it. It makes as good sod as the Kentucky Blue Grass (Poa Pratensis), and if sown together (not 

 too deep) the seeds of the two varieties genei'ally come up together after the same shower, for it takes a 

 wet, damp, drizzly spell to start it. It can be cultivated from both seed and sets, and either may be planted 

 in the fall or spring, though the fall is preferable. We offered this new Grass last season for the first time, 

 and those who would like to give it a trial would do well to raise it from seed the first 

 year, and then cultivate it more extensively after by sets. The seeds are of a peculiar 

 woolly, webby nature, and hitherto this condition has greatly retarded its cultivation 

 from seed, but one of our correspondents has overcome this, and has favored us with 

 details of his method of parting and sowing the seed. This has been put together by us 

 in the shape of a pamphlet, a copy of which we wUl send free with all orders. To those 

 who wish to try it on a more extended scale at first, we would recommend the propaga- 

 tion from sets. These should be planted any time between the fall and the end of Februarj-, after plowing, 

 in rows 1}4 feet apart, and 10 to 12 inches between the plants (about 20,000 sets to the acre). They will soon 

 seed and spi-ead, and form a compact turf of the highest value. Parties ordering should be careful to state 

 Texas Blue Grass, so as not to confound it with Kentucky Blue Grass. 



Peice.— Seed, 25 cts. per packet ; 75 cts. per oz. ; $8.00 per lb. Sets : 60 cts. per 100 ; $4.00 per 1,000. 

 100 sets weigh about 1 lb. Special quotations on lai-ger quantities. 



BERMUDA GRASS. (Cynodon Dact>loii.) 



The great difficulty in extending the cultivation of this Southern Grass is that it cannot be grown suc- 



cessfuUj- from seed. It seeds freely enough, but it is very rarelj^ that a seed on a pistillate bloom can be 



found; it has a profusion of bloom, but the flowers are almost literally staminate or sterile. But Nature 



here compensates, as she always does, for her partial failures. The roots and stems of Bermuda Grass 



root at every eye or joint, and when these have been run through a hay or straw cutter, we have seed, or, 



more properly, sets, that can be sown. This is a Grass that is much grown in the South, 



and an average yield of four tons per acre per annum is a 



safe and cautious estimate of its productiveness. {See cut.) 



Sets, So. 00 per bush. ; $10.00 per bbl. 



BEBMT7DA GRASS. 



JOHNSON GRASS. (Sorghum Malapense.) 



For particulars, see our book, " How the Farm Pays," page 125. Price, 25 cts. per lb. ; S5.00 per bush. 



EOUISIANA GRASS. (Paspalum Platycaule.) 



This is a valuable Grass, as it furnishes an abundance of green feed for stock all the year, except a 

 short time during the coldest period of winter. It increases rapidlj- from seed, and also reproduces itself 

 from suckers. It grows well on all dry lands, and stands drought better than Bermuda or Johnson 

 Grass. It grows from 2 to 5 feet high, and stands the hoof better than the Johnson Grass. It is readily 

 propagated from '^eeds or sets. Sets, 75 cts. per 100 : S6.00 per 1,000. Seed, 75 cts. per pint. 



JAPAN CI^OVER. (Eespedeza Striata.) 



A low perennial of spreading habit, adapted by nature to withstand excessive drought. It flourishes 

 on the poorest soils, and is valuable only in the South, as it is not hardy north of Virginia. (See c«i.) 

 40 cts. per lb. ; $7.00 per bush. 14 lbs. per acre. 



AEFAEFA, OR EUCERN. (Medicago Sativa.) 



For particulars, see page 45. 25 cts. per lb. ; by mail, 35 cts. 



.TATAS CLOVER. 



Tell Mr. Henderson that I have a flouiishing lawn from his Lawn Grass Seed that delights the eyes of northern visitors. No.other so far south. — Geo. W. Bristoi., 

 EdeH, Fla., Jan. Sd, ItSS. 



