40 



TEOSINTE— (i5"«r///rtv/rt MexUana, E. /nAtniatis.)— (Grown for Fodder.) 



This is an annual grass 

 and in the luxuriance and 

 largeness of its growth it much 

 resembles Indian corn. It at- 

 tains a height upon fertile 

 soils of from eight to twelve 

 feet. It is of tropical origin 

 and was introduced into the 

 United States probably from 

 Central America or Mexico, 

 or from both. 



It has been successfully 

 grown at the Experiment Sta- 

 tion at Knoxville, and is re- 

 garded as one of the most 

 prolific forage plants known 

 to agriculture. Stock is very 

 fond of it, and it will yield 

 twenty or more tons of green 

 forage per acre. It will bear 

 cutting several times during 

 the year but some authorities 

 believe that the best results 

 will be obtained from a single 

 cutting just before frost. It 

 tillers greatly, as many as 

 fifty stalks having been 

 observed as springing from 

 the same root. The Agricul- 

 tural Department at Wash- 

 ington recommends that teo- 

 sinte be planted in drills three 

 feet apart and thinned to a 

 foot apart in the rows. One 

 pound of seed is sufficient to 

 plant an acre. One drawback 

 to this grass is that it does not 

 mature its seed in Tennessee, 

 and very rarely north of 

 Southern Florida. 

 The soil for its growth must be deep, moist and fertile. Any soil 

 suitable for corn will produce teosinte. It is one of the rankest feeders 

 of all the grasses. Dairymen living near a city would find it valuable as 

 a soiling crop for cutting green and feeding to milch cows. The stalks 

 are very tender and are eaten greedily by cattle, whether green or dry. 



It is a difficult matter to cure this grass properly and many other 

 grasses adapted to the soils of Tennessee are to be preferred to it for 

 making winter feed for stock. It may be cut with corn knives in the fall 



Teosi 



-luichhriia 



ami, /•'. liixiii in>, 



The uppermost cut in the fiffuie .shows the 

 male inflorescence reduced one-lialf; to the liglit 

 below is shown the feiuRle inflorescence mostly 

 concealed within the slu-alhing leaf; to the left 

 below is shown a single female spike. R. A 

 joint of the rachis ol the fem^ile spike. SI. Ter- 

 minal portion of the stigma. 



