74 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FORAGE-CROP INVESTIGATIONS. 



Notwithstanding the fact that rapid and material improvement 

 has been made in agronomic methods and in practically every phase 

 of farming, almost no advancement has been made in the manage- 

 ment of farm pastures. This is apparently due to the lack of a full 

 appreciation of their value, for it is a fact that pastures will stand 

 neglect to a greater extent than any other portion of the farm and that 

 the results of care and treatment are not so readily noticeable as in the 

 case of cultivated crops. The careful investigations that have been 

 under way for the last four years are now beginning to point to 

 methods of management that will very materially increase the in- 

 come from pastures that are now unprofitable. The optimum rate of 

 grazing pastures seems to be one of the most important factors in 

 connection with their management. In carefully conducted tests 

 very light grazing as well as very heavy grazing has proved in- 

 jurious. The value of alternate grazing and surface cultivation has 

 been measured under carefully controlled conditions, and data have 

 been accumulated to form a basis for reliable recommendations. 



A new forage crop to become popular in any section must possess 

 points of superiority over forage crops that are already well estab- 

 lished. This season two new grasses, Rhodes grass and Sudan 

 grass, have proved to be so superior to other grasses for the same 

 conditions that they are being accepted at once in sections where 

 they have been tested. 



The ability of Rhodes grass to produce heavy yields of palatable 

 and nutritious hay in Florida and other parts of the Gulf coast 

 region, where a good hay grass is a valuable desideratum, makes 

 this grass one of the most promising of recently introduced plants. 



Sudan grass, introduced from Africa, is another example of a 

 new forage crop that has become popular almost in one season. 

 This grass apparently possesses all the valuable characteristics of 

 the well-known Johnson grass without being at all troublesome as 

 a weed on cultivated land. Sudan grass is an extremely promising 

 grass not only for the South, where Johnson grass is now being 

 grown, but also for sections farther north as an annual crop to 

 replace millet. It is a very drought-resistant species and gives 

 heavy yields of good hay. 



A new variety of velvet bean promises to become a valuable crop 

 for forage and soil improvement in sections that are considerably 

 north of those now producing the Florida velvet bean. While fur- 

 ther tests of this variety are necessary to determine its value and 

 northern limit, the present indications are that it will become a 

 very popular and profitable crop as far north as southern Arkansas. 



