The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1907-12-18

Have noted with nuCH interest Ill
your paper Of the 27th the letters in
regard to Guinea grass. This is un-
doubtedly one Of the most valuable
grasses that can be grown in Florida,
especially SO as it grows so luXurlant-
ly on high, dry, poor, sandy land, and
nv experience has been that it is not
SO easily killed by severe cold wealth
er. In fact, | know of patch that
was planted some fifteen years ago
by a friend who at that time had a
very fine orange grove here in Put
nam county. He always had one horse
and a COW, sometimes more, and found
this grass to be very valuable feed,
easy and very cheap to produce. The
patch was planted on poor sandy land,
but was given an application of stable
manure once year. During our sew
eral freezes of few years back the
fine grove was killed and given up,
but the grass, though not protected
in any way, survived and has con-
tinued to grow ever since, though no
one lived on the place for several
years. There is no doubt but that
it may be grown successfully in any
part of Florida, and all along the Gulf
Owing to the difficulty with which
seeds are saved and the high price of
them when imported, and the extreme
ly poor terminating qualities, which
makes the cost even higher, the only
practical way to propagate the grass
is to get the sets Or roots. One set
will in a very short time produce a
large clump, which may be broken
up and the acreage rapidly increased
This may be little slower way Of
getting field planted than we should
desire, but it is such an excellent feed,
coming in SO early and lasting so long,
that it is worth planting even if it
should take five years to get an acre,
which is not the case. Two hundred
sets would give a good start, and any
one who is now growing the grass
could easily afford to sell them for
$3.50 to $500 per hundred; the ex-
press charges would be about IS
tents, and hundred good sets would
Ne worth SIS Of any mans money
Who has any kind of stock to feed.
/ Those who have the roots for sale
should put an ad. in your cent-and-a
; half-aword column.
Rotation can be practised, but is
not practical under everv five years,
when it would greatly benefit the
grass to break it all I'D into small
clumps and reset on another piece Of
ground AS it grows on any kind of
land. it will not be difficult to find
plenty Of room for change of land.
The correct botanical name is, as
you doubtless know, "Panicum jumen-
forum" The late DR.. D. L. Phares,
A. NJ, NJ D., at one time professor
of biology, A. and M. College of
/ Mississippi wrote number Of very
valuable books on Southern Agricu1-
ture, among which was "The Farmers
Book Of Grasses and Other Forage
plants for the Southern Unit d
States" This book is the most COM
p1ete and most accurate in every
way that has ever been written on
grasses adapted to the South, and is
very valuable reading to one interested
in the subject The following is what
he has to say about the grass, also
giving complete analysis I am sure
that all readers of The Agricu1turist
will be interested in his remarks.
"The name Guinea grass has often
been applied to Johnson grass (Sorg-
hum Halapense). The latter natures
seed in the United States, while the
former seldom does, even in F1orida.
+ The Guinea grass, therefore. must be
! nropagated by dividing the clumDs O.
from seed imported from tropical eli
mates, usually from Jamaica. The