THE SMALLER GRASSES STRAW HAY-MAKING 215 



its value as a forage to feed with alfalfa. 28 Sudan grass should be cut 

 when in full bloom, or even earlier, if more than one cutting is to be made. 

 It furnishes fair pasture, but should be used with caution on account 

 of the danger from prussic acid poisoning, as with the other sorghums. 

 (395) Along the humid Gulf Coast, Sudan grass does not thrive. Since 

 this grass crosses readily with the sorghums and bears seed closely re- 

 sembling those of Johnson grass, unusual care is necessary to ensure its 

 purity. Mixtures of Sudan grass and either soybeans or cowpeas are 

 often grown for hay. 



Tunis grass, another variety of Andropogon sorghum which has been 

 recently introduced into this country, is less leafy and vigorous than 

 Sudan grass, which so far has surpassed it in value for all sections. 29 



323. Japanese cane ; sugar cane. Because of its heavy yields, Japanese 

 cane, a slender stemmed variety of the common sugar cane, Saccharum 

 officinarum, is one of the cheapest forage crops that can be grown in the 

 Gulf states, and possibly in southern California. In Florida it furnishes 

 good pasture for cattle and hogs from November to March but is killed 

 by grazing after growth starts in the spring. 30 It may be fed in the fall 

 as silage or may be kept for winter by shocking it in the field. The 

 stalks remain juicy, while the leaves dry out. This crop also makes good 

 silage. Yields of 12 to 25 tons green forage per acre are not unusual. 31 



The tops and leaves of common sugar cane, removed on harvesting 

 the cane, also make satisfactory forage for live stock. Dodson and Staples 

 of the Louisiana Station 32 state that cattle ate silage from sugar-cane 

 tops well. They point out the great loss which occurs when this by- 

 product is not utilized by feeding it to stock. 



324. Other southern grasses. Crab grass (Digit aria sanguinalis) , an 

 annual, weedy, volunteer grass, furnishes more forage in the Gulf states 

 than any other grass. Springing up after early crops, it furnishes fair 

 hay or good fall pasture. 33 Carpet grass (Axonopus compressus), a 

 perennial with creeping rootstocks, probably ranks next to Bermuda as 

 a pasture grass for the southern half of the cotton-belt, being especially 

 useful on damp lowlands. 



Para grass (Panicum barbinode) is a coarse, tropical grass with stout 

 runners which may reach 15 to 40 feet, taking root at intervals. It pro- 

 duces several cuttings annually, yielding as much as 4 tons of hay per 

 acre at a single cutting. 34 Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), a peren- 

 nial with short creeping rootstocks, furnishes 4 to 6 cuttings in the 

 Gulf region. Tracy 35 states that 1 acre of this grass will carry 4 head of 

 cattle thru the season by soilage, or 3 head by grazing. Rescue grass 

 (Bromus unioloides), a short-lived perennial, is probably the best grass 

 for temporary winter pastures on rich land in the south. On such soil 

 it grows large enough to be cut for hay. 36 Natal grass (Tricholaena 



*U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 1126. S3 Hunt, Forage and Fiber Crops, p. 117. 



"U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 605. M Piper, Forage Plants, p. 254. 



20 Fla. Bui. 105. M U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 300. 



81 Tex. Bui. 195. ^Piper, Forage Plants, p. 257. 

 88 La. Bui. 143. 



