Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-10-11
FARM AND GARDEN.
MEADOW SOFT GRASS - (HOLCUs
LANATUS.l


LANATUS.)
OsYKA, MISS, May 20, 1873, DR.. Dan
lei Lee, Gap Creek, Tenn, Dear Sir-I
subscribed for the Southern CustiuGtOr in
1856; and cleaned many valuable facts fr
its PAGES while you had the editorial man.
agement Of it. By its teachings learned
to horizontalize and protect my bill sides
with bitches, which has paid me thousand
fold for al l ever paid IS subscription,
while a great many others were benefited
by my example who never read the Cult
Gator. also learned to plant snd Guilt
vate fruit trees and vines, and have now
the best orchard and vineyard in this Sec
ton Of the country. have the old CuItiUG
tor that taught me many other things of
grest value, but my object in this commUni-
cation is to get your opinion and name for
the enclosed grass. 1t was brought into
this neigbborhood about fifteen years ago,
from Tennessee, and called Herds grass,
by which name it is still called, though it is
not the red top. The proper time to sow it
is the fsll-September to November. With
us it begins to run up about the last of
March, when we cut it and feed it green to
our work horses. used barley for the
same purpose for several years, but the
grass is equally as good aud mora hardy;
we cut it about three times. l cut twenty
feet square few years ago and got sixty
pound of well-cared, number one hay,
which is equal to three and ope-quarter
tons per acre. 1t is biennial, that is, it
will live through but one summer; the Sec
Ond winter it makes an excellent pasture
and dies. 1t grows from three to four and
oDe-haf feet high, heads cut and ripens
with the red oat. If you can give me its
true name you will confer a favor on the
undersigned and many others. make
fine crop of it every year, sowing the seed
at the second hoeing of my ruta bagas and
winter cabbage on my COW pen patches.
Hoping to hear from you, am very respect
fully your obedient servant,
Il. w. l.. LEWIS.
The above letter sent to our former resi-
dence in Knox county, failed to reach US
till quite recently, and is published because
it relates to grass of considerable value in
Southern agriculture. 1t is well known
English or European grass called velvet or
meadow soft grass by Northern farmers,
and Hotcus ldrtutus by botanists. 1t is
hardy and gerry prolific, but not 80 well
liked by stock as some others, and is less
nutritious. We cultivated it on poor land
in Clark county, Ca, several years and
nave 1t on our farm in Knox county, Tenn,
but do not SOW its seed or cultivate it, know
ing its inferiority from fifty years. exper-
fence. Yet, it is so much better than no
English grass for hay, and no European
grass for pasture, and is so sure crop and
so easily raised, that we advise every South
ern farmer who often lacks good grazing for
his stock and hay for winter feeding, to fol-
low the example ofour correspondent, and
SOW the seed of this grass which will hold
the ground in Tennessee as perennial
plant like blue grass, timothy and redtop or
herds grass. 1t will live where these fail in
the sunny South. We obtained our South
ern seed from Texas Is years ago under the
name of "Texas mesquite grass" Early
Spanish missionaries probably introduced
it on the Rio Grande some two or three
centuries ago, and it has spread
like blue grass far and wide.
These European grasses that become like
European cattle, horses, sheep, hogs and
men, not only acclimated but practically
Indigenous to our Southern soil, deserve
more attention from the owners of the
land who would advance Southern indus
try, wealth and civilization. As Europeans
settled permanently in the New World, we
have brought to this continent our domes-
tic animals, the aids and companions OF
our rising humanity for thousands of years
In the great work of improving the white
race of mankind, improving all farm stock
cereals, fruits and cultivated plants, and
improving all soils and plantations, it is
simply impossible to dispense with the Eu.
ropean grasses and command success. 1t is
the lack of European grass in Southern az
riculture, that shuts out to a large extent
common schools, impoverishes the land cul.
waited, and gives existence to a poor, sparse
dissatisfied and emigrating population
Texas to-day has moro human inhabitant:
than Tennessee; and the European gras:
on the table before US has contributed much
to that result. Texas farmers export thi:
year over 100000 head of cattle worth al
least seven and a half million dollars. Ten
nessee farmers should do better than this,
but they do not, because they fail
to see how easily grass grows, and II
growing makes the farmer independent
Agricultural knowledge aud indepen-
dence grow up together, and should be fos'
tered by all. We have only about two mil
lion acres of well cultivated land in Ten
nessee in territory of twenty-nlne and a
half million acres. One-third Of our whole
area should be in European grass for graz
ing, wool growing and dairy purposes An
Intelligent stock raiser who grazes cattle on
Smoky Mountain, told us on looking at his
herd nearly ready for market, that they