The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1898-01-13

of this region has an advantage over the
northern farmer in that his pastures re-
main green throughout the twelve months
of the year, whereas in the north catt.c
must be- kept in the stable and fed dry
forage or cnsilage in the cold winter
months, There are many excellent pas
turc grasses and Of these perhaps The
best for winter use is rescue grass. 1t
seeds very freely and fills in the season
when the summer grasses are dead ant
brown.
Texas blue grass is another good wint, !"
pasture grass but it has the disadvantage
that it can only he propagatcd from the
roots, the ripe seeds being covered with
dense wool that makes it impossible to
SOW the seed, even though good quality
could he obtained. The vitality of the
seed of Texas blue grass is much lower
than other grass seeds, ranging from |
in 200 to in 80. The grass, however,
has very strong underground, creeping
rootstocks. The growth is slow but sure,
and if the roots are set out at intervals i'll
the pasture land. it will he found tnat
in the course of two or three years Texas
blue grass will have pretty thoroughly
taken the ground. 1t is, like rescue
grass, better winter and early spring
pasturagc than as Il summer pasture or
hay plant, and if it were not for the
"
the roots, it would undoubtedly be one of
the best grasses for that purpose.
OF the hay grasses, timothy, red top,
tall oat grass, Italian rye grass perennial
rye grass, and number of others which
are quite ~ ,rrallv g ltivatef by, formers
haN- ..a- go. well. In, =.
one or two others, the growth of which
has been exceptional. OF these the most
striking, perhaps, is "tcff" which pro
Al ngyttpn MI frr,AtIr nd
hay ut the rate of g. tons rs the result
OF one moving This ''tcf' comes To
us from northern Africa, where it is
grown both for hay and for the seed, the
latter being used like the millcts for food
by some of the native races. 1t has
been grown by Il correspondent of this
division in Florida for the past two years
with most excellent results, but it has
been found that it requires Il rich soil
and Il well prepared seed bed, and plenty
of moisture. 1t is an annual and the
chief disadvantage in its cultivation is
that the seed is very minute, almost as
fine rs tobacco seed, and difficult to SOW.
The seed should he mixed with some dry
soil to give it bulk so that it may be
sown without getting too thick n stand,
and it is so small that it requires no har-
rowing and no covering whatever. If
it were not for the fact that this seed
is so small it could be highly recon-
mcndcd as II hay crop for use in the
southern states, for like most things that
come from warmer countries it makes
its best growth during the hot weather,
but requires moisture and an abundant
food supply in the soil.
Another rank growing annual which
has done well this season is teosnte. 1t
grows like Indian corn and stools like
wheat, sometimes as many as fifty or
sixty stalks having been produced from
n single seed. 1t is planted in drills five
the row. 1t requires rich, warm, loamy
soils, and yields an enormous amount of
green fodder excellent for soilng pur-
poses. Dairy farmers would do well to
try an acre or two of this crop. The
seed is sOwn at the rate of | IL to :
pounds per acre. The seed has always
been too expensive to make it worth