FORAGE-CEOP EXPERIMENTS AT SAN ANTONIO. 19 



and the Gulf coast region. The yield from the plat, planted under 

 irrigation, was 13.5 tons per acre in 1910, and 11.95 tons per acre in 

 191 1 . (PL III, fig. 1 .) To obtain the best results late fall planting is 

 recommended. This cane promises to be a valuable addition to the 

 list of forage crops that can be grown under irrigation in this section, 

 as it makes a large yield of very palatable fodder. 



In the plats tested the canes were planted in furrows about 6 inches 

 deep and 6 feet apart. Ordinary cultivation was given the crop. 

 Mr. John M. Scott, in a recent bulletin, 1 says that the number of whole 

 canes required to plant an acre is about 3,000. He suggests that the 

 rows be made about 8 feet apart and that the canes be cut in pieces 

 having three or four eyes to each piece and dropped in a double line. 

 There is some reason for believing that a closer planting than 8 feet 

 may be advisable in Texas as the 1 canes would then be less coarse. 



ALFALFA. 



A number of tests have been made with different varieties of alfalfa 

 and with different methods of seeding this crop. None of the results 

 so far obtained have been sufficiently satisfactory to warrant alfalfa 

 being grown on a commercial scale without irrigation. The principal 

 reason for this difficulty seems to be that in the immediate locality of 

 San Antonio it is not possible to store enough moisture in the soil to 

 carry the plants over the periods of drought that occur in the summer. 

 If there were no loss by surface run-off and evaporation, both of which 

 are important factors in the section mentioned, the crop could prob- 

 ably be grown at a profit without irrigation. Alfalfa is being grown 

 successfully in some localities in this region under irrigation, but 

 apparently is not adapted to this section unless it can be irrigated 

 occasionally. 



In 1907 a series of plantings of a number of varieties of alfalfa were 

 made in 6-inch drills, in single rows 2 feet apart and in double rows 

 about S inches apart, with a cultivated space of 24 inches between. 

 These plats were not irrigated. Of the three methods of planting, the 

 double-row method, with the intervening space kept cultivated, proved 

 to be the best, although the yields from the plats planted in this 

 manner were so low that they were not profitable, even during the 

 favorable season of 1908. Six strains were also seeded in broadcast 

 plats in December, 1906. Two of the plats died out almost entirely, 

 the stand in many of them being reduced to 5 or 10 per cent. Several 

 plats seeded September 25, 1906, gave much better results, the stand 

 in October of the following year being about 90 per cent. Thorough 

 inoculation of the soil seemed to be decidedly beneficial, the plat 



i Scott, John M. Japanese Sugar Cane for Forage. Bulletin 105, Florida Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. 



[Cir. 1061 



