Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1911-12-03
By PROF. MARTIN NELSON

Every foot of waste land not GOV cred by water rocks, or dense shade can with little effort be made to yield very profitable returns. The much snaligned Bermuda grass has it's place. A place for which there is need on nearly every farm ill the state. Bermuda will do what 10 otnerI grass will do fer Arkansas. CT t45==s South in general. u will take pca-2S sion of all types and grades ot land where it is given q little encourage Nent. No slopes are teo steep. no pil too poor, nor too wet, unless | E covered with water, for Bermud4
 grow and produce abundant msad-
 and pasture. No temperature
 ltoo high or too low for this grass
 Arkansas nor do our seyerest
 (uths cause it to dry up in the hot
 part of the season. These facts
 experiment station has demon
 led concusively and with such
 ,ss ibility it is merely a question O. ..z-~ re and effort when our pasture lots, our barren valleys, our worthless hill sides and mountain tops can b. transformed into productive pasturs lands and be made to support mil lions of live stock. Farmers. 'haTe been learning to employ improved methods of cultivation of crops The importance of this cannot be over estimated. This, however. is only the first step in better agriculture The greatest of all lessons in agriculture IS the one that teaches how to take care of the soil and to make it yield permanently more instead of ncrea8 ingly less as our soil will ventually do without the right treatment Proper treatment Of t.e soil makes necessary the keeping of live stock on the farm. Keeping live stock at profit makes good pasture a neces- slty. Excepting where Bermuda has established itself there IS today little or no first class pasture to be found on any portion of our waste land and this holds generally true Of the land set aside on the farms for speeisl pasture purposes. We have the mGst Favorable climate conditions for tas production of live stock and there is no reason why we should not produce the next requirement. good pasture :and forage
 There are two ways of establish ing stands of Bermuda grass. One is by planting small pieces of the soa the other by sowing the seed. Either method can be accomplished on eithe &tilable land or waste land Sowins the seed is a cheaper method, but requires year or two longer to ges a full developed stand. Which ever method is employed the most com, plete cultivation possible should be given the soil before planting or seed ing, for this encourages rapid devel9p ment of the grass. The fo'loVi !, methods have been found to work well: Take up Bermuda sod in layers three or four inches thick. Cut up into small pieces approximately two inches square. Use these for plant ing both tillable and non-tillable land On tillable land break it and culti- yate it well. Mark it in checks abo&; two feet each way. With the pieces of Bermuda sod loaded in the wagon drive across the field and press into Fhe loose soil piece of sod into each check. If weeds are kept moved down Bermuda will be in complete possession of the soil by the end Of the, season. On waste land Bermuda sod may be set successfully by cut ting out a little cavity into which the Bermuda SOW may be firmly pressed with the foot, packed in with what ever loose soil is available Brush and weeds must be GU; away in order that the shade does not become too dense but scattering trees will not prevent the development of Bermuda By the end of the season each plant will have spread itself over a con. siderable area and be so firmly estab- lished that pasturing will net deseroy it thereafter. The close of the second season will. as a rule, see ii in full possession of the soil.
 cheaper method than this can be employed which differs from it in practical result only to the extent oy requiring a longer time in which to establish perfect Bermuda pasture This method is to start the grasa from the seed Four to six pounds of seed per acre is sufficient. Or stillible land the seed is sown cn a well prepared soil and narrowed well after seeding. It is necessary to keep weeds moved down and to begin the moving early i'll the season. Der. muda seed germinates very slowly. often times requiring six weeks or more and in the young stage cannot stand the shade of a dense growth of weeds. Seed can be used very
 niuarSifed Earripn