242 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



notwithstanding the fact that the sorghum had so much the greater 

 yield per acre as measured bj' the scales. Turning to the protein the 

 silage corn was found to produce 735 lbs. of protein per acre while the 

 sorghum had but 429 lbs. So in the nitrogen free extract, the starch 

 and sugar, where the sorghum might be expected to lead, it was found 

 that the silage corn had 5,734 lbs. while the sorghum had but 4,237 lbs. 

 In crude fiber the ingredient not alone worthless but often injurious 

 by depressing digestibility, the sorghum led, yielding 2,169 lbs., while 

 the silage corn had but 1,554 lbs. Sorghum did not compete with corn 

 therefore as a plant for the silo. In fact sorghum showed at no point 

 a superiority to corn as a forage crop. On the other hand, its low 

 yield of protein and its very woody stems go far toward condemning it. 



Our experiments do not warrant us in recommending the crop in any 

 locality where Indian corn can be grown. 



Eafjir corn. This plant is a sorghum, but one that does not produce 

 a sufficient amount of sugar to make it valuable as a source of molasses 

 or sugar. It is therefore called a non-saccharine sorghum. While grow- 

 ing in the field it somewhat resembles corn, although it bears its seeds 

 at the top, and the ears on the side of the stalks are wanting. It yielded 

 in early September, when harvested into the silo 34,360 lbs. The cows 

 ate both the silage and dry fodder of Kaffir corn with good relish. 

 The main objection to the plant is its stiff, pole-like, stems which the 

 cows cannot eat. It is slow to start in the spring, makes a tall growth, 

 and yields a large amount of forage to the acre. So far as the experi- 

 ment at this station goes it cannot compete with Indian corn as a for- 

 age crop for Michigan. 



Millet ancJm Hungarian grass. In former bulletins of this station the 

 investigations in regard to the methods of growing these grasses and 

 the adaptability of the many varieties have been fully discussed. The 

 millet grown on the farm has been fed, for the most part, as hay. On 

 one or more occasions the green fodder has been put in the silo. The 

 silage is liked by the cows and keeps up the flow of milk. It is un 

 usually dry for silage, containing in one sam|)le, but 57.10% of water. 

 When pitched out of the silo it was very light and bulky, resembling 

 hay rather than silage. It had a pleasant odor and kept with little 

 or no spoiling. The millets mature in the fall, and where the crop 

 is heavy, it is sometimes hard to cure the hay. In such cases the 

 millets may be successfully stored in the silo. Millet is recommended 

 for the consideration of dairy men because it can be sown late in the 

 season after a crop of peas and oats has been removed or can be substi- 

 tuted for corn when the spring work has been so delayed as to make the 

 I)lanting of the latter impracticable. 



Foreign grasses. Many English grasses have been tried at the sta- 

 tion bat the results have not been at all encouraging. The English 

 grasses, the fescues and the rye grasses, have never done well either 

 on the dryer or moister parts of the college farm, on the sands or 

 sandy loams or on the clay. The summers are too dry and harsh. 

 Timotliy is the grass upon which dependence can safely be placed. 



On the sandy soils, tall oat grass has been tried but it is hard to 

 get good seed and the crop is neither permanent nor large. Bromus 



