102 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



A comparison of tlie average yield of five crops of maize witli that of 

 the same number of Planters' friend will also show a larger return 

 for the second crop than for the first. That is that the yield of maize 

 taking the average of five fields has been exceeded by that of the 

 Planters' friend. This plant appears to have shown the greatest 

 productive power of its class, for, as the comparison of the returns with 

 amber cane show, there is a larger average taking the figures of five 

 crops in the case of Planters' friend than even that of amber cane. 

 These four crops, amber cane, Planters' friend, Egyptian corn and 

 Kaffir corn, belong to the sorghum family. Through the occasional 

 deaths of cattle partaking of this forage, sorghums are regarded by 

 some with a little fear, and it must be admitted that in certain districts 

 such a fear is justified, but in Southern Victoria, free from the checks 

 in growth that occur in the North and which seem partly productive 

 of tlie trouble, there seems no reason to me for anticipating drawbacks 

 of this nature, and from the experience of the present year, both 

 Planters' friend and amber cane are crops which in my opinion deserve 

 a large share of attention on the part of the dairyman, always assum- 

 ing they will be fed in an advanced stage of growth. In the first cut 

 even the figures I have brought under your notice justify the belief 

 thev will produce yields equal to and probably larger than those of the 

 maize, while in the opinion of some they possess other advantages as 

 a fodder which lend an additional value. The opinions of a few growers 

 in this respect will prove of interest. I might add that all the crops 

 grown on the experimental fields were fed to cattle without the slightest 

 ill effect. The two following letters from dairymen, give a very fair 

 idea, I think, of the opinions entertained generally both in Gippsland 

 and the drier portion of the Western district on the relative values of 

 maize and amber cane. 



Mr. Miller of Upper Maifra writes : — " In reference to giving you 

 mv experience regarding the fodders, maize was the only kind I tried 

 before going in for this plot. My opinion of the plot is, amber cane is 

 the best, as it gives the largest quantity and the cows ate it readily. 

 They never left a single stalk, which was not the case in the maize. 

 If sown early it would give a good second cut." 



Mr. Gooding of Moe, in reply to my inquiry, places the amber cane 

 as first in the list. 



Mr. Enticott of Colac, writes: — " There being such a small quantity 

 I cannot give any decided opinion on its feeding v^lue as compared with 

 maize, but I believe it will be a valuable fodder for this district to 

 come in after the maize is finished. It stood the dry weather splen- 

 didly, the hot winds did not wither the tops as it did in the maize." 



The Second Out from the Sorghums. 



Comparing the results of the single cut, there are two of the sor- 

 ghums among the four tried which promise heavier yields than the 

 maize crop, but in the case of the sorghums a second cut is easily 

 obtainable in Southern Victoria. The following figures give the 



