Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-08-30
AGRICULTURAL.
CAN TIE ARTIFICIAL GRASSES III
GROWN IN THE COTTON STATES?

GROWN IN THE OOTTON STATES
= Editors Memphis Appeal:
; A great many things are done at tn
n south which a few years since Wer
. deemed impractieabIe. 1t was suppose,
: that winter fruits could not be raised a
: the south. The reason was that the ex
= periments were made with trees suitet
!, to northern climate. 1t is now con
. ceded that the southern apples and pear
4 for winter use quite equal the northern
a 1t was supposed that wine could not b'
7 made at the south, yet southern winei
cannot be exceeded in this country. L
was supposed that wool of the Saxon anC
: Merino sheep would deteriorate in the
climate Of the south, yet at the world;
> fair in London, Tennessee wool took the
/, premium over al competitors. We
! should never conclude thing cannot be
done because it has not been done.
1t Is said that the climate OF the south
: will be an effeetual barrier to the exten-
sive growth of the artificial grasses.
Ihese grasses make up 8 large class.
There are several hundred of them-some
belong to cold climate, and some TO g
warm climate; some requiring q dry
soil, and others q damp soil. There is
as much difference in their habits as
/, there is in the habits and wants Of fruit
trees. Because the fig and pomegrsnate
will not grow in Massachusetts, shall we
conclude that no fruit trees of any kind
will grow there? And because q north
ern artificial grass will not grow in a
southern soil, shall we conclude that no
artificial grass will grow there?
The southern climate has its advan-
tsges and disadvantages in grass cul-
ture. At the north the danger is that
the grass will be frozen out; st the south,
that it will be burned out. Proper pre-
cautions must be taken in both instances.
A traveller passing through the southern
states 10 July, and finding the grass
psrched under a summers sun may, on
reaching the north in the same month,
find their meadows looking green and
refreshing, and may conclude that grass
culture succeeds in the north, but is IN
suited to the south. But suppose the
same traveller finds, in the following
March, that the land at the north is stiff,
frozen or covered with snow; that the
cattle are all housed and eating costly
food; and when he reaches the south in
the same month, finds the pastures green
and verdant, and the cattle luxuriating
in new grass, might he not with the
same propriety conclude that the north
was a bad grass country, and the south
good one?
The hot suns OF the south are against
the grass in the summer, but they are
very much in its favor in the winter.
Almost all the northern grasses that will
live at the south, change their habits and
become winter grasses. They grow dur
/ ing the winter. 1t cannot be expected
that they should grow during the sum-
mer. Everything which the Almighty
has made, possessing either animal or
/ vegetable life, requires some period Of
repOse. These grass which have so
/ changed their habits as to grow during
/ the winter, must not be graEed during
/ the summer; nor must they be so closely
/ grazed during the winter that their roots
| will be left in denuded state to enCoun-
/ ter the hot sun Of summer. They must
| be allowed TO rest from their winter and
/ spring lsbOrs, under cover Of their own
| vegetation. The ability to use the srti-
/ fetal grasses during the winter, is great
| advantage of the southern climate. 1t
/ amounts to letting the stock NOW their
own hay, and Is a saving Of the expense
both of moving and expensive barns.
The cost of one Pennsylvania stone barn
would lay down a considerable southern
plantation in the winter grasses. The
substitute in summer is the crab grass,
which springs as soon as the grain is cut,
and affords fresh young grass at a time
when, in countries destitute of this in
valuable product, cattle feed reluctantly
on the old grass of spring.
1t may be said by some that "this is a
fair theory, but we have tried these
grasses at the south, and they do not
succeed" Perhaps the experiment has
been made on poor land. Neither cot
ton, corn nor grain would succeed if put
on poor land and left without subsequent
attention. The pea vine once grew on
land now too much exhausted for profit
able cultivation without manure. 1t is
necessary to manure the land in order to
make valuable grasses grow which were
once native TO it. How much more Is It
necessary, then, to manure the same
land in order to make grasses grow which
are foreign TO it. The artificial grasses
are highly concentrated food. They
contain much in a small space. They
are composed Of the elements which
make up the flesh and bones of animals
which eat them. They must previously
feed before they can feed these animals. |
II the grass food is not In the soil, it must
be put there. There is no crop on which
manuring pays better than on grass
lands, as it pays twice-in the profit on
the animals fed, and in the Improvement
of the soil. Most of the unsuccessful ex-
periments in grass culture in the south
have been so because they have been
made on poor land.
Good bottom land at the south will
generally produce the grasses suited to
them without the aid of manure. There
Is very little cultivated upland in this
country which will produce good grass
crops without manure.
Tho Ounetion ig pGFad will If nav 70
manure grass lands at the south? II it !
will pay anywhere, it will certainly do !
so here. 1t does pay to manure a meadow |
at the north, from which hay is to be cut, |
carted and stacked or hOused-much |
more will it pay at the south, where all |
this expense is saved by advantage OF /
climate. The perssn who is considering /
grass culture at the south on upland, |
must take into the account the cost of |
msnuriGg as an indispensable prelimi- |
nary. On open land this cost may be |
absted, and sometimes more than com |
pensated by sowing grain with grass |
seeds-the increase of the grain crop |
covering the expense Of the manure.
Persons attempting the cultivation Of |
the grasses at the south have sometimes |
failed because they did not understand |
the nature OF the perennial grasses. They |
-
the crab and crow-foOt grasses. These |
mature rapidly, as they are short lived.
It is a law of nature that those of her
products which are designed to last long,
mature slowly. The planter will recog-
mise an illustration of this remark in the
growth of a broom sedge field. The first
season the young grass barely makes its
appearance, yet IL is there. IL is several
years before it entirely occupies the
ground. The same field, if plowed,
would spring up ia crab grass, and in
two months would be covered with a
heavy carpet Of grass and annual weeds.
When field is sown with the artificial
grasses at the south, the first season the
ground will apparently be occupied al
most exclusively by the natural grasses
and weeds, which always follow the stir
ring Of the soil by the plow. The exper-
imenter, observing this result, concludes
that his experiment is a failure, and
plOws up his ground. He should have
remembered that these grasses and weeds
are ANNALS; that they follow the plow;
that they will not appear the next year,
and that they have shaded from the
seorehing sun the delicate needle. like
spears Of the young perennial grasses
which are hardly visible TO his eye. He
should have waited until the next year,
when be would probably have found a
fair stand Of the grass sown by him.
Again, some eXperimentersi in grass cul-
ture, delighted at the succUlent appear
snce Of the young grass in the autumn,
when everything else has been withered
by frost, turn upon it their equally de-
lighted animals. These continue upon il
all winter, wet or dry. A blade of grass
which appears above the ground is in-
stantly bitten, This process is repeated
until late in the spring. The summers
sun comes, the naked roots are exposed
TO 1t, the grass is killed, and the expert
menter declares that the southern eli
mate is unsuited to any OF the artificial
grasses. These failures, whether from
the selection Of unsuitable grasses, from
sowing In poor land, from ignorance of
the comparatively slow growth of the
perennial grasses, or from over-stocking
and too close feeding, are all set down to
the climate.
Rev. c. w. Howard of Georgia, TO
whom we are indebted for most Of the
above facts, says that for more than
twenty years be has given his attention
to the growth of the artificial grasses at
the south. He does not hesitate TO give