TWO PROMINENT SOUTHERN GRASSES 1 37 



growing plant that may be grown with Bermuda grass, 

 so as to furnish pasture the year around, but without 

 much show of success. Hairy vetch, if carefully han- 

 dled, has some value for this purpose, but if eaten too 

 close in spring it fails to reseed itself and thus disap- 

 pears. On the other hand, if allowed to grow too rank 

 in spring, it kills out the grass and makes the pasture 

 patchy. Bur clover has been recommended for this 

 purpose, but the same objections hold in this case as 

 those just stated for hairy vetch. It is also not readily 

 eaten by stock. Texas blue-grass has also been tried 

 as a winter companion for Bermuda grass, but not on 

 a scale sufficient to give positive results. A few farm- 

 ers report favorable results with it. By plowing Ber- 

 muda sod in autumn it is probable that a crop of fall- 

 sown oats could be grown for hay and leave good 

 pasture the next summer, though this suggestion rests 

 rather on theory than on experience. 



JOHNSON GRASS {SorgJmm halapense) 



In South Carolina this grass (Fig. 27) is generally 

 known as Means grass, while it is frequently but er- 

 roneously called ' ' Guinea grass ' ' in Alabama and other 

 sections of the South. It is unquestionably the worst 

 weed in the South. At the same time, it yields two to 

 three crops of good hay a year. Those who are not 

 acquainted with Johnson grass are often inclined to 

 think that a weed that yields such crops of good feed 

 is a good one to have on a farm, and this would, in 

 faft, be the case if only the one crop were desired. 

 There are, however, very few farmers who want to 

 grow nothing else. Those whose farms are free from 



