94 AUSTRALIAN GRASSES AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



moisture to attain perfection. It is essentially a summer 

 grass. One seedling will often develop thirty-five stems, 

 which grow sixteen feet high in a few months, and this wonder- 

 ful growth has been exceeded under very favourable conditions. 

 To obtain such results Teosinte must have plenty of room. 

 Although this tall grass produces leaves about three feet long, 

 and three niches wide hi the middle, the herbage is by no means 

 coarse. The young succulent stems contain a good percentage 

 of saccharine matter, and all parts of the plant are greedily 

 eaten by stock. The most economical way of feeding this 

 grass to dairy cattle is to cut it when a few feet high, and under 

 ordinary conditions three crops from the same roots will be 

 obtained in one season. The seeds should be planted in 

 October and November in rows four feet apart, with a similar 

 distance between the seeds in the rows. 



SORGHUMS 



Sorghums are divided into two classes, viz., the saccharine 

 and the non-saccharine. The former have long been culti- 

 vated in the dairying districts, and few grasses are held in such 

 esteem as auxiliary feed for milch cows. Dairy cattle judic- 

 iously fed on them do remarkably well, and yield large 

 quantities of milk. Most kinds of stock fatten readily on 

 these grasses, but care must be taken not to give the animals 

 too much at a time, or they will be likely to get blown (hoven), 

 and probably die. Moreover, Sorghum, whilst very young 

 contains a deadly poison known as hydrocyanic acid, and 

 until it is at least seven weeks old should not be fed to stock. 

 Notwithstanding these serious drawbacks, Sorghum is not 

 only an exceedingly valuable auxiliary green feed, but makes 

 capital hay, and with care, good ensilage. Sorghums do not 

 constitute what maybe termed a "balanced ration;" still 

 a less quantity of grain will be required to make good the 



