SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
241 
GRASSES FOR THE SOUTH— REPLY TO 
Inquiries. 
T, E. Clarke, St. Andrews’ Bay Florida. The grass 
you sent is new to us. From your description, it is 
worthy of careful trial. Will you be kind enough to for- 
ward to the Associate Editor of this journal, at Kingston, 
Cass County, Ga., a few of the seed 1 
S. J. H., LaGrange, Texas. The grass seeds have been 
received and will be sowed with care. It is t© be hoped 
that you will not be diverted from your purpose of collect- 
ing the seeds of the natural grasses in your region, which 
promise to be of value. Great good to the country may 
result from such inquiries. We sincerely trust that they 
may become more general. Our climate enables us to 
pasture stock during a large portion of the winter. That 
which we most need is grass growing freely during that 
period and of a permanent character. Annuals are of 
but little comparative value. Even perennial grasses 
differ greatly in their ability to stand ‘'the tooth and the 
hoof.” We shall arrive at safe conclusions as to this sub- 
ject only by patient and careful experiment. 
Orzan, Hempstead County, Arkansas. Herds Grass 
succeeds best on moist land — it will grow almost in run- 
ning water. It is not a valuable grass on upland. Red 
Glover will certainly succeed on such land as you de- 
scribe. If liable to be burned out in the summer, it must 
not be pastured so heavily as to prevent a good coat being 
left upon it, and the stock should be taken off during the 
prevalence of intense heat or protracted drought. A 
valuable pasture of the artificial grasses should be treated 
precisely as we treat a Barley or Rye pasture. Every 
farmer knows what that means. Herd’s Grass is easily 
destroyed by the plow. The native Red Clover, of which 
you speak, is a worhless plant, if it be the same found in 
Georgia. For your permanent pasture, it will behest to 
sow a great variety of seeds ; Blue Grass, Orchard Grass, 
Red and White Clover make an excellent mixture, and in 
the following proportions : Blue Grass, four quarts ; Or- 
chard Grass, half bushel; Red Clover four quarts, and 
same of White Clover. The (Orchard Grass and Red 
Cliver grow quickly, but neither of them are permanent 
except by re-seeding themselves — the Blue Grass and 
White Clover will, in the end, take full possession of the 
ground. Look to your native grasses. It is very pro- 
bable that you may find some one that will answer better 
than any of those brought from more Northern regions. 
J. W., Van’s Valley. There are a number of grasses 
which pass under the general name of Muskeet. The 
grass enclosed in your letter is one of them. We have 
the same grass in cultivation, and do not value it highly 
either as a hay or pasture grass. It is too light. Have 
you tried Timothy on your red upland 1 It used to be 
thought that Timothy should be confined to low 
grounds. A gentleman who has been successful with 
the grasses near Atlanta, prefers Timothy to Orchard 
Grass. His land is composed of worn hill sides, original- 
ly thin, which he plows very deep, manures for wheat, 
sows Timothy and Red Clover with Red Wheat, and in 
the spring applies Plaster. In looking over Loudon’s 
Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, we find it stated by the 
eminent author that this grass (Timothy) was intro- 
duced by and took its name from “Timothy Hudson, 
about 1780, who brought it from Carolina, where it was 
in great repute.” The small experiments made by us 
with Timothy on upland have been successful. On rich 
bottom land, not too wet, when sowed alone, it is greatly 
superior to Herd’s Grass. 
J. R. E., Georgiana, Ga. The best meadows in this 
country are composed of the following kinds of grass: 
Timothy, Herd’s Grass, and White Clover. This mix- 
ture gives a cutting down to the ground It is best to 
unite Red Clover with it; but this plant will disappear 
by constant mowing, as it is a biennial. 
G. W. R., Walker Co., Ga. Red Clover will not grow 
well on the kind of land you describe, in its present con- 
dition. It has the “dropsy.” You must tap it. It’s being 
so wet in winter, and so very hard and dry in summer, 
shows that it needs draining. The digestion of the food 
of plants"will not go on any better in a diseased soil, 
than digestion of human food will proceed favorably in a 
diseased stomach. Clover will thrive on your well 
drained bottom land, even if it be originally p'ipe clay ; 
or on good upland, plowed to a sufficient depth, if it be 
not exhausted ; if so, a slight dressing of manure will 
give a good stand. 
We have received from a subscriber, whose letter 
has been mislaid, after a private reply to it, several heads 
of Terrel Grass or Wild Rye. Our impressions of this 
grass are very favorable. With Lucerne and the Terrell 
grass, the one for hay and soiling, and the other for win- 
ter pasture, the planters of the cotton region need be at 
no loss in stock raising and the improvement of their 
lands. The Terrell Grass thrives admirably in woody 
pastures. IVe are inclined to prefer it for cattle, sheep 
and horses for this purpose to Blue grass. We have been 
collecting the seed for one or two years, and shall have a 
considerable amount on hand for sowing. In the hope of 
calling attention to this grass^ we make the following offer : 
To any one of the subscribers of this journal, who will 
forward one new name and subscription to the Associate 
Editor, at Kingston, a small sample of the Terrell Grass 
seed will be sent, prepaid, by mail. This offer is made 
in order that our friends, having once seen the seed in its 
head, will be, hereafter, able to furnish themselves from 
their own farms. It is a mtive of every part of the Stat^, 
But stock are so fond of it, that it is never allowed to go 
to seed if they can reach it; hence it has failed to attract 
observation We do not speak with entire positivenes-s 
as to this grass Our impression, we repeat, thus far, are 
very greatly in its favor. H. 
To Correspondents, Publishers, &c — Several inter- 
esting communications, valuable books, &c , were received 
too late for present number — but will appear in our next. 
Public Documents. — We are under very special obli- 
gations to Hon. A. H. Stephens, of Georgia, and Hon. J. 
H. Hammond, of South Carolina, for public documents of 
great interest and value. 
