214 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



utilized by subdividing them and turning the stock from one lot to the 

 other. Tho primarily a pasture grass, on rich soil Bermuda gives good 

 yields of hay. While 3 to 4 tons of hay per acre have been secured in 

 2 to 3 cuttings, according to Piper 23 the average yield does not exceed 

 a ton per acre. (497, 625) The stout rootstocks when plowed up are 

 readily eaten by hogs, and in the tropics, when the top growth is scanty, 

 are often pulled up and fed to horses. 



321. Johnson grass, Andropogon halepensis. In the South this rela- 

 tive of the sorghums is the worst weed of the cotton planter and at the 

 same time the best meadow grass for many sections. 2 * Spreading by 

 seed and vigorous creeping rootstocks, it can be eradicated only with 

 great difficulty, and hence it is not as a rule sown on clean fields. On 

 rich soil in the southern states 3 cuttings of good quality hay may be 

 secured, if cut before maturity. Six tons of Johnson-grass hay per 

 acre are reported, tho the annual return usually ranges from 2 to 3 

 tons. (497, 626) As the grass soon becomes sod bound, it should be 

 plowed every 2 or 3 years. While this coarse grass is not well suited 

 for pasture, it may be cut once each month for soilage during the sum- 

 mer season. The rootstocks are readily eaten by stock, especially hogs, 

 fields sometimes being plowed in Texas to furnish winter feed. 25 



322. Sudan grass; Tunis grass. Sudan grass (Andropogon sorghum, 

 var.), a close relative of the sorghums, is a tall annual grass introduced 

 into this country by the United States Department of Agriculture in 

 1909. It closely resembles Johnson grass, but has broader and more 

 numerous leaves and fortunately has no creeping rootstocks, so that it 

 cannot become a pest. Sudan grass grows 5 to 8 feet high in cultivated 

 rows, and 3 to 5 feet when sown broadcast. For so rank a grass the 

 stems are fine, being seldom larger than a lead pencil. The hay is superior 

 to millet and can be fed to all classes of stock without injury, and the 

 plant is also well suited for soilage 26 or silage. In composition it closely 

 resembles timothy and Johnson grass. Thruout the northern states it 

 yields only one cutting, but farther south it may be cut twice or even 

 more. Sudan grass is adapted to the same conditions as the sorghums, 

 and being drought resistant is one of the most valuable forage crops for 

 the western portion of the plains region, from central South Dakota to 

 Texas. According to Vinall, 27 in 1913, with unusually severe drought, 

 yields ranging from 1.25 to 5.0 tons were secured in this section without 

 irrigation. As Sudan grass is a warm-weather grass it does not flourish 

 at high altitudes or in the extreme northern states. In the corn belt and 

 in the east central states where alfalfa, clover, and timothy flourish, its 

 chief value will be as a catch crop in place of millet. Under irrigation in 

 the Southwest yields of 7.8 to 9.8 tons have been secured, which indicates 



"Forage Plants, p. 242. 



^Wing, Meadows and Pastures, pp. 355, 401. 



35 Piper, Forage Plants, p. 246. 



'"'Piper, Forage Plants, p. 281. 2T U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 605. 



