Pastures for Florida


tion is generally sufficient. Good results have been obtained by
disking well established stands during late winter once annually
without additional cultivation. A well established Napier grass
pasture is shown in Fig. 20.
 Kudzu is particularly adapted to heavy-textured soils or soils
with clay subsoils. The crowns should be set in the winter when
the plants are dormant. Four hundred pounds per acre of an
0-14-10 fertilizer should be applied in the drill row previous to
planting. The rows should be spaced 12 to 25 feet apart with the
crowns spaced 2 to 5 feet apart in the row. Seedlings produced
from seed planted in April or May can be transplanted in late
fall. The kudzu should be cultivated and weeded until it be-
comes well established. Corn or other row crops may be planted
in the 25 foot space between the rows. Kudzu should not be
grazed for 2 or 3 years after planting.
 Temporary grazing crops not used for grazing may be mowed
for hay or silage. Other crops such as velvet beans, Alyce
clover, beggarweed, non-toxic varieties of crotararia and Lespe-
deza sericea also are being used for grazing.

 PASTURE PLANTS
 A simple method for identifying plant species is to compare
the type, size, color and shape of the seedheads. Differences in
seedheads of closely related species usually are greater than
those of foliage, roots or growth habits of plants. It is quite
difficult to differentiate certain closely related species when the
seedheads are not available. If the seedheads are not available
the differences in leaf and stem size, shape, thickness, color and
hairiness, and in leaf margins should be carefully observed.
The prominent foliage and seedhead characteristics used for
identifying plants commonly grown for pastures in Florida and
their utility are briefly described and discussed in the subsequent
pages.
 Plants utilized for pastures in Florida fall in 2 important
botanical families: The grasses (Poacae) and the legumes
(Leguminosae). The grasses and leguminous plants are distin-
guished readily by comparing foliage, root and seeding charac-
teristics. The grasses have simple leaves which consist of the
blade, sheath and collar; most pasture legumes have compound
leaves consisting of leaflets and petiole 6 (Fig. 22). In legumes,
a stipule (small leaf) usually occurs at the junction of the stem
 Certain legumes have simple leaves.