The Monticellonian., 1915-08-05


 method was the one slost commonly praeticed, because the seed was so scarce and of such low vitality that it was frequently impraetieable to use it. NoW, however. seed from the South west, especially from Arizona. can be had of much better quality than that formerly on the market.
 If seeding is resorted to. 1t should be done on a well-prepared seedbed. in March or April Five pounds of seed to the acre will be sufficient, as the seed is very small and the grass spreads rapidly. If this small quantity of fine seed IS mixed with eottoaseed meal or dry earth, or. better, mixed with the seed of other pasture plants. it's equal distribution i'll be made easier A roller or light smoothing har- Tow may be used to cover the seed. When pieces of sod re planted in- stead of seed, common method is to lay off furrows about three feet apart and drop small pieces of sod in them every two or three feet, covering them with the foot. In almost any local ity In the South 1t is .sually easy to find a well-established Bermuda grasS sod. A shallow furrow can be cut with turning blow, and this can De chopped up with spade into pieces about two inches square. One advan- tage over seeding that this method possesses is that the planting of sod may be done at any time during the summer, and good stands have also been obtained with less preparation of the seedbed than is required for the other method. It is better, however, to prepare the seedbed thoroughly in either case. If the sod is planted in the spfng. the grass will usually GOV CT the entire ground the first season.
 Bermuda grass Is permanent on fer 1 tile soils in the South, endures long 1 periods of drought without much in- 1 jury, and is benefited rather than in- l Jured by the grazing and trampling of stock It cannot, however, stand much shade. and therefore should not be used in woodland pastures. This characteristic is sometimes an advan- tage, for when it is desired to eradi- cate the grass a crop of oats and vetch soWn in the fall and followed by crop of eowpeas the following summer will usually result in freeing the field for cultivated crops. AS feed Der muda grass is considered to be as nutritious as most of the other | grasses
 With Bermuda grass agricultural au- thorities now recommend the sowing of lespedeza Japan clover). which be- ing a legume, enriches the soil with nitrogen. On rich. fertile loans les pedeza makes very satisfactory crop of hay, but it will often grow on land so poor that nothing else can survive. It makes it's best growth in midsum- mer and is not checked until the heavy frosts of fall
 Unless extremely close grazing Is practiced, lesnedeza is self-perpetuat- ing One method, in fact, of getting a stand is to cut some of the ripened hay and scatter it over the ground to be seeded Under ordinary circum- stances. however, it is usual to SOW about 9 pounds of pure well-cleaned seed to the acre at any time after the danger from frost is past. Small CT quantities. however, will often be sufficient for a pasture, as it spreads rapidly in any suitable soil.
 Bermuda grass and lespedeza are both suitable for summer pastures only. It is. therefore, desirable to seed with them something that will furnish winter grazing. The two plants best suited for this purpose are bur clover and white or Dutch clover. These are seeded in late summer or fall. bur clover at the rate of Is pounds of hulled seed, or two bushels of the burs, to the acre, and white clover at the rate of four or five pounds to the acre. This combination of Der muda grass. lespedeza, bur clover, and white clover is undoubtedly the best combination for pastures over the greater part of the cotton growing .e- zion.
 With such a mixture of good oil and a proper system of grazing. the pasture should increase in production for many years. The success of any permanent pasture, however. depends | primarily on the fertility of the land at the start, and it is, therefore, good policy to put the land in good tilth. If the soil is deficient in organic matter. some green.manure crop such as cow peas should be plowed under before 1 the grass is seeded.