211 



It has been commonly accepted as a fact that the coarse or " St. 

 Mary's" variety of Guinea grass was greatly inferior to the fine 

 grass as grown in St. Ann and other stock-raising parishes. 

 These figures show that if the coarse grass be harvested just be- 

 fore flowering it is of very high feeding value. To illustrate this 

 point a comparison of the nitrogenous constituents and fibre in 

 the samples previously reported upon (loc. cit.) is here made. 



It is indeed surprising that the coarse grass of St. Andrew as 

 growing wild in the Laboratory grounds should prove itself su- 

 perior on analysis to the other samples of guinea grass grown 

 in the island. 



Hay made from grass of this quality compares quite favourably 

 with Timothy hay and is a valuable fodder. 



If, however, the grass be not cut at the right stage but is al- 

 lowed to flower and form seeds, a remarkable deterioration sets 

 in and the value of the fodder is reduced to about one third. 



It is obvious that in dry districts like St. Andrew where guinea 

 grass will not stand close grazing by stock that it is of the highest 

 importance to make the surplus crop of guinea grass into hay be- 

 fore it seeds. The writer has had most encouraging results from 

 this practice and the analytical figures given above throw light 

 upon the matter. 



BREADNUT FODDER {Brosimum Alicastnim.) 



An analysis of this valuable fodder from St. Ann was published 

 in the previous article (loc. cit.) Mr. W. Cradwick of the Agri- 

 cultural Department kindly supplied a sample from an upland pen 



