64 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
of which the pods are eaten by many animals ; boys 
try to “make believe” that it is good, but they 
soon tire of its mawkishness. An infusion of the 
pulp has sometimes been used for making a domes¬ 
tic beer. But the most noticeable feature of the 
tree, and the one in which its hedging value resides, 
is its thorns. The thorn often being triple, i. e., a 
main thorn with two branches, has given the tree one 
of its common names—“Three-Thorned Acacia,” 
its foliage having a close resemblance to that of the 
Acacias ; but there is no regularity in the shape of 
the thorns, they being found in great variety, from 
a mere simple point to very much branched and 
complicated masses, armed in every direction. Dif¬ 
ferent trees vary greatly in their armament, some 
being quite thornless, while others, according to 
Bryant, “ bristle with thorns to such a degree, that 
not even a squirrel can ascend them.” These 
thorns are really branches developed as spines ; the 
tree produces, besides buds at the axils of the 
leaves, supernumerary buds at some distance above 
the axil; these, when they grow, become hard and 
pointed ; that they are really branches is indicated 
by branching themselves, but more especially, by 
their sometimes bearing leaves, and they have 
even been known to produce flowers. As a tree for 
ornamental planting, the Honey Locust is justly 
esteemed ; it is a tree that assumes a great variety 
of forms, some individuals having tall pyramidal 
heads, while others with long, horizontal branches 
assume flat and irregular shapes, while the extreme 
lightness and feathery character of its foliage give it 
a most graceful and pleasing aspect. For planting 
in grounds the less thorny trees should be chosen, 
as those with numerous large clusters of spines are 
apt to drop them,and these, if concealed in the grass, 
may cause nr pleasant accidents. Of the economical 
value of th„ timber, there seems to be but little 
known; its value as fuel, when well seasoned, is 
generally admitted, but as to its qualities for the 
builder or cabinet maker, or for general out-door 
farm uses, those who have written upon the tree 
say little or nothing. But our present business 
witli the tree is as a subject for hedges, and its 
value for this use is now well established ; at one 
time it was in disrepute, owing to failures in cases 
where, under similar treatment, or lack of treat¬ 
ment, any other hedge would have failed. We have 
examined hedges of this that were in the first place 
properly planted 25 years ago, and well cared for 
since, that are now as perfect as hedges need be. 
Some years ago (possibly ten), we were at the well 
known nursery of 
Ellwanger&Barry; 
they had recently 
finished planting a 
long Jine of Honey 
Locusthedge upon 
their grounds. 
Having seen, as it 
were, the very be¬ 
ginning of this 
hedge, we have 
watched its pro¬ 
gress with interest in subsequent visits to "Roch¬ 
ester ; not having time when there last summer 
to visit the hedge (at some distance from the 
attractive portion of the grounds), we have since 
written to learn its present condition, and the es¬ 
teem in which it is held after an experience of sev¬ 
eral years. After giving answer to some questions 
in detail (which we shall use at another time), Mr. 
Barry writes: “Some neighboring farmers here 
have fine Honey Locust hedges on their farms, aud 
they have never received more than ordinary care. 
For our climate it is the best hedge plant that I 
know of.” After this nothing more need be said 
in regard to its excellence. Having given so much 
space to describing the plant, the method of mak¬ 
ing a hedge must be left for another month. We 
may here say, to answer a number of inquiries, that 
the plant is always raised from seeds planted in 
spring; these may be had of the leading seedsmen, 
the catalogue price being 60 cents a pound. Young 
trees are offered by several nurserymen, the usual 
price being $8 to $10 the thousand, according to 
size. We mention those points to save a large 
number the trouble of writing for the information. 
About Bermuda-Grass. 
Bermuda-Grass, or Scutch-Grass in our Southern 
States, Creeping Dog’s-tooth-Grass in England, 
Chiendent in France, and Doob or Durva in the 
East Indies, are different common names for the 
grass called by botanists Cynadon Dactylon. In one 
respect it is the most remarkable grass witbin our 
knowledge, as one can with equal ease find that it 
is the most valuable of all grasses, and one that is 
to restore worn-out Southern fields, and bring un¬ 
told blessings wherever introduced, or that on the 
other hand that it is a curse to the soil, and that 
when this once gets a footing upon a farm, the 
owner may as well give it up at once, as to do so 
at the end of a struggle in which he is sure to be 
worsted. With such widely differing views, it is 
likely that there is some truth on both sides ; but 
it is not to our purpose at present to discuBS the 
value of Bermuda so much as to describe the grass 
itself and its methods of propagation, in order to 
BERMUDA GRASS (Cynadon Dactylon). 
reply to many inquirers, who wish to make a trial 
of it. No doubt these have come to the conclusion 
that if half that has been said in its favor is true, 
they will run the risk of all the alleged bad quali¬ 
ties that have been ascribed to it. Bermuda-Grass 
has slender creeping stems which run along upon 
the ground, throwing clusters of roots into the 
soil at every joint, frequently branching, to form a 
net-work of such stems from which arise annually 
the erect and leaf-bearing stems. These prostrate 
stems ran to a great distance; one writer states 
that they will pass over a rock six feet across, and 
soon hide it from view. The upright stems vary 
greatly with the quality of the soil; sometimes 
they are but a few inches high, forming a dense 
mat, and again growing tall enough to make two 
tons of hay to the acre at one cutting. The differ¬ 
ence of appearance in the grass as it grows on dry 
and sandy soil, and in a moist and rich one, is so 
great that some botanists have thought that they 
might be well marked varieties if not distinct 
species. The flowers are borne upon slender spikes 
one to two inches long, three to five of which are 
attached at the top of the stem, from which they 
spread like rays, as in the engraving, taken from 
a small specimen. The structure of the spikclets, 
or the flowers themselves, we need not describe, as 
it can only be done by the use of terms familiar to 
only those who have made a special study of the 
grasses. While the Bermuda-Grass flowers freely, 
it has not, so far as we are aware, produced seed in 
this country. In reply to many who have inquired 
where seed could be procured, we have had occa¬ 
sion to state a number of times, that no seed was 
produced ; this has called out letters from several 
who thought we were in error, and upon our re¬ 
questing the writers to send us specimens, they 
have in nearly every case sent the seed of the 
Crab-Grass (Panicum sanguinale). That is, an an¬ 
nual, readily told from Bermuda-Grass by botanical 
characters, and can be known to the general ob¬ 
server by its much longer spikes which are usually 
in greater number (4 to 15) than in Bermuda. The 
few who did not send Crab-Grass seed, mistook the 
flowers of Bermuda for its seeds. But does it never 
bear seeds ? Undoubtedly it is fruitful in some coun¬ 
tries, indeed, Sinclair in the account of his exper¬ 
iments made for the Duke of Bedford and published 
in 1816, says : “ The seeds of this highly celebrated 
grass in India, were communicated to the Duke of 
Bedford, from the East Indies, by the Marquess of 
Hastings.” It is further stated, that the plants from 
these seeds produced seeds. This grass is found in 
all hot countries, but is thought to have been intro¬ 
duced here and into Australia, which could hardly 
have happened, save by the aid of seeds. Its wide 
dispersion with us, being found in Pennsylvania, 
and every State south of it, makes it probable that 
it has at times seeded, but in the hundreds of spec¬ 
imens we have examined, no seed, or even an im¬ 
perfect one, has been found. In view of the inquir¬ 
ies we have had, we should think that some of our 
seedsmen would find it worth while to import seed 
from abroad. The only method by which it can now 
be propagated, is by cuttings. The sod is taken up 
and thoroughly washed; it is then ran through a 
cutting machine, and cut fine; the cuttings (or 
rather choppings), are sown broad-cast, and a shal¬ 
low furrow turned over them as in plowing in wheat. 
This method is suggested by Mr. Howard, in his 
useful treatise on “Grasses for the South; ” we re¬ 
gret that he does not state what quantity of cut¬ 
tings of this kind is needed for an acre. It would 
be well for some seedsman, where the grass is 
abundant, to advertise the fact that he can supply 
it in sods or cuttings. The grass increases very 
rapidly, and if those who wish to introduce it, can 
get by mail a small bunch of roots from some friend 
who lives where it grows, they can, by growing this 
carefully one year, get enough to set a wide area 
the following spring. The value of the Bermuda 
as a pasture grass, is more obvious than as a meadow 
grass. Yet when our late friend, Mr. Affleck, of 
Texas, states that his regular crop was five tons of 
hay to the acre, and one so favorably known as 
Doct. Ravenel, of 8. Carolina, states that by the use 
of fertilizers, he harvested in four cuttings, from 
one-eighth of an acre, at the rate of ten tons to the 
acre, we should think that the Southern States 
by growing this grass would be exporters of hay. 
The Apple Leaf Fungus. 
BY PROP. WM. A. BUCKOCT, PENN. STATE AGR. COLLEGE. 
Professor Buckhout sends us some sketches of 
the Apple Leaf Fungus upon the fruit, with the 
following interesting notes: “ In your article on 
the Apple Leaf Fungus in the November number, 
I find no mention of the fact that besides attacking 
the leaves, and thereby injuring the fruit-producing 
power of the tree, it attacks the fruit itself, as is 
known to be the case in certain wild species—the 
Hawthorn, for instance. An excellent example of 
this has recently come under my notice, and, as I 
am not aware that such a case has been recorded 
in print, I send you the details. Mr. Washington 
Campbell, of Linden Hall (CentreCo., Pa.), brought 
me the leaves and fruit of the apple locally known 
as the ‘Pound’ (Fallawater of Downing), upon 
both of which the “cluster-cups” were thickly scat¬ 
tered. Those upon the fruit were in patches about 
the size of a small coin, and most frequently found 
