No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 259 



as a whole, less palatable. It grows in our climate from six to nine 

 feet in height. It may be seeded in May, preferably in rows as corn, 

 and cultivated; about ten pounds of seed is re(iuired per acre. The 

 Kathr corn have proved valuable in the southern and western 

 sections of the country, owing to their d'routh-resisting (pialitics, 

 but cannot take the place of corn in this State. The yield obtained 

 has been about one-half that obtained from good varieties of corn, 

 tliough owing to the higher percentage of water contained in it, the 

 yield of dry matter has been practically only one-third as great. 

 Great claims are made for these plants in other States, as already 

 intimated, yet thus far our experiments do not show that they can be 

 verified here. 



Teosmte. — Teosinte is a plant that is very highly recommended, 

 particularly by seedsmen, and does make an enormous yield. It, 

 how'ever, requires a whole season, thus making it less desirable as 

 a forage than the quicker growing plants. It is also very slow to 

 develop in the spring, making it more expensive to keep clean on 

 land reasonably weedy, besides occupying the entire season. It is a 

 succulent and palatable forage; in fact, so watery as to make it un- 

 desii'able from the standpoint of food produced. In our experiment 

 at the station, when seeded at the same time and cut at the same 

 time as corn, the drj- matter in the teosinte was 9.9 per cent., 

 whereas that in the corn was 21 per cent., or, in other words, one 

 ton of corn would furnish as much actual food as two tons of the 

 teosinte. 



Sorghum. — Sorghum is another plant which belongs to the cereal 

 family, and is also strongly recommended in some sections of the 

 country, but where the other plants mentioned grow well, this can- 

 not be recommended as superior. In the localities where the season 

 is much longer, as in some of the southern and southw^estern States, 

 two or three crops are sometimes secured by cutting at early stages 

 of growth, and allov/ing them to grow up again. This has been tried 

 at the farm, and has not been found successful. 



Cow Peas\. — This is a leguminous plant that possesses many desir- 

 abl qualities as a forage, and the longer our experience with it as a 

 forage, the more can be said in its favor. Of the numerous varieties, 

 the Clay, the Whippoorwill and Black are all well suited for soiling 

 purposes. It is a crop the dry matter of which is exceedingly rich 

 in nitrogen, possessing the advantage mentioned for the clovers in 

 reducing^ the need for purchased protein. The plant will thrive well 

 on light, poor soils, if an abundance of mineral elements are pro- 

 vided, though their best results are obtained on a warm, good soil. 

 Seed should not be sowed until the last week in May or first of June, 

 or until danger of frost is passed, and because of their more rapid 



