THE SMALLER GRASSES STRAW HAY-MAKING 211 



in that section. Ladd and Shepperd of the North Dakota Station 9 found 

 brome the best grass for permanent pasture, yielding twice as much pro- 

 tein and no more fiber than timothy. During a 5-year test, brome grass 

 yielded an average of 2 tons of hay at the Manitoba and 1.25 tons at the 

 Saskatchewan Station. 10 (496) 



317. The millets. The millets are rapid growing hot- weather annuals 

 of many races and varieties. Of these, the foxtail millets, previously 

 described (243), are the type most grown for forage in the United States. 

 In this group are common millet, the earliest, most drought-resistant, 

 and, according to Piper, 11 the most widely grown variety; the less 

 drought-resistant Hungarian millet, shorter stemmed and with seeds 

 mostly purplish; and German millet, late maturing and with nodding 

 heads, which yields more hay, but not of quite such good quality. The 

 foxtail millets are especially valuable as hay crops on dry-farms in the 

 northern plains region. In the more humid regions they are grown 

 chiefly as catch crops, thriving in hot and even dry weather and reaching 

 the harvest period late in August or September. 



Millet should be seeded thickly for hay and should be cut as soon as 

 the blossoms appear. Such hay is useful for cattle and sheep feeding, 

 tho usually less palatable and inferior in feeding value to timothy hay 

 or even bright, fine corn or sorghum fodder. (798, 861) Since millet 

 hay is sometimes injurious to horses, it should be fed sparingly. (498) 

 Millet is inferior to Sudan grass in yield and feeding value in most 

 sections where the latter thrives. 



Japanese barnyard millet (EchinoMoa frumentacea) , a close relative 

 of the common barnyard grass, has often been advertised as " billion 

 dollar grass.'* This plant is much coarser than the foxtail millets and 

 under favorable conditions yields large crops of coarse forage. Lindsey 

 of the Massachusetts Station 12 found this millet less satisfactory than 

 corn for soilage because it is more woody and less drought resistant. 

 For hay it is inferior to the foxtail millets. The broom-corn millets, 

 previously described (243), are grown chiefly for seed production, as the 

 yield of forage is low and the stems woody. Pearl millet (Pennisetum 

 glaucum) , also called pencillaria or cat-tail millet, is adapted to the same 

 conditions as the sorghums, which have largely displaced it in both the 

 semi-arid regions and the South. As a soiling /crop this tall growing 

 grass has value in the southern states, yielding 3 or more cuttings in a 

 season. It should be cut when 3 to 4 feet high, before the stems become 

 hard. 



Teosinte (Euchlaena Mcxicana), a giant millet resembling sorghum, 

 requires a rich, moist soil and is too tropical to have value north of the 

 southern portion of the Gulf States. The culture of this grass is de- 

 creasing in the United States, because on moderately fertile soils it 

 yields less than sorghum, and on rich land less than Japanese cane. 13 



N. D. Bui. 47. "Canada Expt. Farms, Epts. 1902-6. 



u Forage Plants, p. 288. u Mass. Bui. 133. M Piper, Forage Plants, p. 303. 



