THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 27 



ficiently to almost exclude it from the tillable land. A correspondent 

 from Mississippi says : 



Bermuda is the grass for this country, resisting both the drought of summer and 

 the frost of >yinter, and affording a richer " pasturage than any other grass. With 

 this for pasture and the Johnson grass {Sorghum halapense) for hay, stock-raising 

 will be more profitable than cotton. 



Georgia has taken the]lead in introducing Bermuda grass. In the 

 central part of the State it is found in every county, and is steadily 

 growing in favor. The report of the State board of agriculture for 1881 

 says : 



The hay crop of Georgia has been unusually tine in 1881. The clovers and cul- 

 tivated grasses made heavy crops before the summer's drought commenced. Large 

 harvests of Bermuda hay were realized in some of the counties of Middle Georgia, 

 where this valuable grass in being more highly appreciated every year. It makes a 

 hay inferior to none, with the advantage of being permanent when once well set. 

 Quite a number of farmers now realize a better income from lands set in Bermuda 

 than they did from the same when in cotton. 



Another correspondent says : 



Berrau^la, beyoud all doubt, is the best grass for pasture, but for hay we need other 

 grasses, and I am satisfied that Johnson grass is the one for that purpose. These 

 two grasses have the power to make this section a great stock country. 



Such exi^ressions as this frequently occur in the reports: "Bermuda 

 is the best, but the farmers are afraid of it." 



Mr. F. Seip, of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, says: 



Of all the usual cultivated grasses none can compare in general usefulness to the 

 Bermuda. It is invaluable as a pasture grass for all kinds of stock, furnishing, 

 through nearly the entire year, and even in winter, under some circumstances, an 

 extraordinary amount of food. For hay purposes it cannot be surpassed. Under 

 favorable circumstances it will yield more to the acre than any other known grass^ 

 with the exception possibly of lucern {Medicago saliva) and Johnson grass, the latter 

 being too coarse to make superior hay. 



Again Mr. Seip says of Bermuda : 



It can only be recommended for permanent pastures or meadows, as it if. very diffi- 

 cult to eradicate, but still it is practicable to remove it. The best method, I think, 

 is summer plowing repeated frequently, followed by oats in the fall and winter, and 

 after the oat crop by a heavy crop of pease. If this is well done there will be no 

 trouble in making a crop of corn or cotton the following year. 



- Colonel Lane, in " Forage Plants of the South," says, in reference to 

 destroying Bermuda : 



Upoii ordinary upland I have found no difficulty in destroying it by close cultiva- 

 tion in cotton for two years. It requires a few extra plowings to get the sod thor- 

 oughly broken to pieces. The breaking should be done with a small plow first and a 

 harrow run over it once or twice in winter or early spring. Take advantage of the 

 dry hot months of summer to have the grass that may be found alive plowed and hoed, 

 and exposed as much as possible to the sun. In ordinary seasons so much of the grass 

 will be killed the first year that but little interference with the next crop need be 

 apprehended. 



i 



