Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-12-31
QUERIES ANSWERED
ERADICATING RERMIrnA GRAss

ERADlCATING BERMUDA GRASS.
E G. p, Muscadine, Ala, writes: en-
close specimen of grass which / do not
know what il is. The grass was set out
some ten years ago, but never made any
growth until this year, when 1 plowed up
the field, after which IL went TO growing
rapidly. / wish TO know how TO eradicate
IL from the land. as / am cultivating IL
now. I was thinking OF blowing il up
deep and narrowing all the grass roots
TO the surface so they would be killed
this winter.
The sample of grass sent is what is
known as Bermuda, and II is one of the
nest pasture and hay grasses adapted to
the south. II is very tenacious OF life,
an excellent drought resister and with
stands heavy tramping to good advant-
age. Your experience with ii is not sur
prising, as the grass sometimes does not
make a vigorous growth when put on
poor thin land for some time. AS IL
roots at every joint and also sometimes
develops what are known as stolons or
fleshy roots, the stirring of the soil gave
II the incentive to grow and no doubt
accounts for its rapid and vigorous devel-
opment. You will find it difficult to de-
stroy this grass, but it can be accom-
plished by growing smother crops on the
land such as cowpeas and velvet beans.
These can be planted as early in the
spring as danger of frost is past. 1t
NAV sometimes be necessary to grow two
smother crops in succession: in other
words plant to cowpeas and follow by
vetch in the fall and put back to ccw-
peas the next spring. 1t is also advis-
able for you to plow the land infested
with Bermuda grass very shallow as soon
as possible and leave the roots exposed
TO the freezes during the winter. After
you pillow the land harrow 1t and rake
as many of the roots TO the surface as
possible and burn them. Bermuda is such
a useful pasture and hay grass, however,
and will improve thin land when allowed
TO cover it up and protect IT from ero-
sion. that Il should be cultivated and
used much more extensively in the south
than is the custom.
CHUFAs FOR HOGS
RlR. j., Shelton, S. c., writes: I have
read an article where a man threshed
from rs to 200 bushel per acre of chufas
and left enough in the ground to feed
four hogs to every acre. He said he
would gather $500 bushels this year and
fatten about 300 hogs. Where is the best
market for chufas and what are they
worth, and how far apart should they be
planted? What is the best way to get
a stand of Bermuda grass? have some
red loamy land that 1 think will make
the last blowing. What fertilizer would
be best to use for both the cotton and
clover? Is crimson clover the best va
riety to improve the land? Lespsdeza
grows a foot high. which makes me
think the land is well adapted to clover
Chufas have been used to some extent
as grazing crop for hogs. The data
available indicate about the following re-
suits: Hogs grazed on chufas in Alabama
-. -s..,-r In rof
consisting Of a mixture OF corn meal and
cowpeas made 100 pounds OF gain for
consumption of 234 pounds of grain. The
return per aSre for the chufas estimating
pork at 35 cents was S13.09. In Arkansas
hogs were fed on peanuts, chufas, soy
beans and corn with the following results:
Total gain on peanuts 1045 pounds; on
chufas, 66 pounds; on soy beans, 22.15
pounds; and on corn. 112.3 pounds. One
twelfth of an acre each Of peanuts and
chufas were grazed. The soy beans gave
out before the experiment was completed
and no comparison can be made Of them.
but estimating the pork per acre produced
the following results were obtained: Pea
nuts, J. 252 pounds: chufas, 500 pounds.
and corn. z36 pounds. estimating the yield
at 80 bushels per acre. From further tests
made at the same place, IL appears that
hogs grazed on a field OF alternate rows
OF peanuts and chufas, and receiving
some corn I'm addition made a gain of LIZ
pounds per head per day Those grazed
on peanuts and corn for the same length
Of eime made an average gain of LIS
pounds These results would indicate
that chufas furnish very good grazing for
hogs.
could not say offhand where the best
market for chufss might be found. as
there is not large demand for the seed