The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-03-22
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Icaltivatioa. 81 erasaes &, at Che soutt

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The cultivation Of Grasses should
receive at5tke South much more at.
tention thanit has in the past. The
support OF stock from the crib or
4 sgranary, is an expensive affair. We
& cannot expect Northern grasses to
1 thrive among rs, but shon 4 adopt
y those Of Southern ATTITUDES. DR..
.iYithers, Of Alabama, has sent US 3
i paper in which he recommends the
Guinea Grass as altoyether adapted
Il to onriWants:
! tsIt7is true, that It does not -four.
ssishinsperpetual vcrdnre here, as it
does in Jamaica, but it grows lnxuri.
antly for eight months in the year
q and at q time when almost all our
other artificial grasses are rarchcd
4 Apply the heat of the sun. Being a
D native Of the tropics, it rcjoices in the
genial heat, of the summers sun.
Springing up in our climate with
the first harbingers Of spring, it bears
repeated mowings till the chilling
sroats Of the fall. AS is known to
Salf8of us, we had on the 7th April
II this year severe freeze, which dc.
q atroyed much Of our corn, and all the
cotton which was then growing. The
Guinea grass was at that time high e.
5Snough b to NOW, but it was killed near
ly to%the ground. Subsequently the
q location on which it was grown was
\ entirely oycrhowed, by the unprcce.
4 dentedly high freshct at so late a
81 season as the first of May, and re.
manned upwards of week under the
water from the river; yet it has al
y ready yielded us fine crop Of
grass, and is now very nearly ready
for o second moving. 1t is frequent
lya cut FIVE or six times in the course
1 Of one season, and yields a large
crop Of hay each time. During the
lust season, we measured a small lot
in which it was growing, as accurate.
4 " as we could by stepping it OF,
! and found it to contain 1000 square
yards, which is little over onc.hth of
4 an acre. After the grass which
was. cut off of it was sufficiently cured,
Il we shocked it till it was dry enough
to stack, and weighing an average
4 shock, we found that the piece
of ground had yielded 81, 200 lbs. Of
hay; which, though not entirely
: cured, was sufficiently so to allow Of
! its being safely stored in a house.
This would make an acre yield near.
ly5000 lbs at one cutting. This
! was the second or third cutting; and
it;yielded four crops, but none as
heavy as the one we,stricd the cx-.
perimgift Il itfi: fiie sui II trrvrt Il
was grown was a deep sandy loan,
highly manurcd, and originally rich.
i l1tis vain to expect any land to yield
aflarge crop of any vegetable pro-
duct, unless it is amply supplied Silh
rich, stimulating manurcs.
ssThe method Of propagating it is
BY the roots, which resemble very
much the cane roots Of the coun.
try, but more nearly the calamus
root. I'm the West Indies they pro-
pagate it by seed; but in this coun-
try, as far as nay experience extends,
the seed do not vcgctate. ! see i'll
some of the books, however, that it
IS said to be raised from seed, but
that is no! my experience with it.
My original stock was brought from
Virginia, by Gen. j. II. Cooke, and
consisted Of about double handful.
BY bedding thcm in rich loan, We
observed roots enough in the sea-
son to plant about all acre during the
next. As it does not propagate it
self by seeds, and is not liable to be
taken up and scattered by the birds
ofthe air, the wheels of vehicles. or
the hoofs of animals, it spreads very
slowly, and may be entirely cradica,
ted by cultivating the land; or more
effectually by turning hogs on it
IN winter, as they are fond Of
the roots, and 50 to great depth to
obtain them. 1t spreads, however,
gradually into the adjoining lands.
and should not be planted near
garden, or any place into which
hogs cannot be turned, when you
should wish to radicatc it.
eThe method Of planting is to
lay off burrows about two feet apart,
and drop piece Of the root about
as long as your finger, at two feet
distance in the furrow. This can be
done at any time during the win
ter, and it must be covered deep
enough to protect it from the cold. A
slight working in the spring will
give it the start Of the weeds and
grass, and it will soon root out every
thing else. The land on which
1t grows should be top.drcssed with
manure every season; and when you