10 



PEARL MILLET (Pennisetum spicatum). 



One plat was planted May 18 with seed obtained from a Richmond, Va., firm. 

 On July 14 a fine stand of plants 3 to 4 feet high was noted. By August 1 it 

 stood 6 to 7 feet tall, very full of leaves, but with no heads. Two weeks later 

 heads began to appear. On October 18 it was 10 to 13 feet high. The culms 

 were much branched but rather slender in habit, and the slender, spreading 

 branches gave the plants a bushy appearance. 



Another plat (9-G-13) sown with seed received from College Station, Tex., 

 presented a striking contrast. The plants were 8 to 10 feet high and much tuore 

 strict in habit than the preceding. The culms were miich branched at the top, 

 but the branches were appressed and bore no spikes. The spikes on the central 

 stems were erect and 10 to 16 inches long. 



. MISCELLANEOUS FORAGE PLANTS. 



SALTBUSHES. 



Seed of several native species were planted May 12, but after the 

 heavy torrential rain of the 19th, none of the seed could be found; 

 certainly none of it ever grew. Some of the Australian species and 

 several Kochias, closely related plants from Australia, were also 

 lost in the same way. 



Australian saltbush {A. semibaccata R. Br.). — One plat (9-A-l) planted May 

 12 with seed from California (S. P. I. 3922) germinated quickly and well, and 

 made excellent growth. On July 3 it was 8 inches high, and July 31, after a 

 month of very hot weather, the branches had grown to be 12 to 16 inches in 

 length. Growth continued throughout the season, the vines on October 17 being 

 3 to 4 feet long and making a dense mat about 6 inches in depth on the ground. 

 This was the slowest to produce fruit of any species grown this year. On the 

 date last mentioned hardly enough had been formed to pay for picking. 



Three moi-e plats were planted June 9— two with seed from the Division sup- 

 ply and one with the same seed as the plat just described. All were up by the 

 1st of July, and during that hot month each made a growth of about 1 foot, a 

 rate maintained until the middle of October, when they had caught up with the 

 plat sown a month earlier — at least in size and vigor, but had just begun to 

 fruit. 



Gray saltbush (-4. halhnoides hmdl.) .—One -plat (9-A-ll) was planted on May 

 12 with seed from California (S. P. I. 3925). On June 9 the plants were 1 inch 

 high ; on July 3 they were 6 inches high, and on July 31 they were fine and vig- 

 orous, 12 inches in height. Two plats sown July 9 with seed from the same lot 

 produced plants which were aboiit 5 inches shorter than the preceding through 

 the summer, but had reached an equal size by October 17, when all were robust, 

 spreading bushes fully 2 feet high and loaded with the spongy fruits which had 

 been ripening and falling to the grotxnd in such quantities that a bushel was 

 taken up from each plat at this time. The plants continued to fruit until nearly 

 the end of November, when they were pulled. 



Annual saltbush {A. holocarpa F. v, Muell.).— One-half a plat (9-C-lOa) was 

 sown May 16 with seed from the United States grass station at Abilene, Texas, 

 1899. Germination was prompt and growth was rapid. On Jiily 3 the stout 

 bushes were 6 to 8 inches high, and fruit on some was nearly full grown. 

 August 1 they were 12 to 15 inches high, widely branching and full of fruit, 

 some of which was ripe and falling off. The plants grew to be 16 to 18 inches 



