174 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



in 1909. It closely resembles Johnson grass, but fortunately has no 

 creeping rootstalks, and thus cannot become a pest. Tho a tall, rank- 

 growing grass, the stems are comparatively slender, seldom being 

 larger than a lead pencil. It yields hay similar to timothy in com- 

 position and somewhat superior to millet in feeding value. It gives 

 one cutting in the northern states and tAvo or more in the South. 

 Being drought resistant and adapted to the same conditions as the 

 sorghums, it is an important forage crop for the western portion of 

 the plains region. As it is a heat loving plant, Sudan grass does not 

 flourish at high altitudes or in the extreme North. Neither does it 

 thrive along the humid Gulf coast. Yields of 1.25 to 5 tons of hay 

 per acre have been secured in the great plains district, even with 

 unusually severe drought, and under irrigation in the Southwest 

 yields of 8 to nearly 10 tons have been obtained. Sudan grass is also 

 a valuable soilage crop. 



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

 cane, a slender stemmed variety of the common sugar cane, 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. The crop may be cured as dry 

 fodder and makes good silage. Yields of 25 to 30 tons of green forage 

 per acre are not unusual. 



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

 the cane, make satisfactory forage for live stock, and may be ensiled. 

 It is a wasteful practice not to utilize this bj'-product by feeding to 

 stock. 



Wild and marsh grasses. — Along parts of the Atlantic coast are 

 extensive salt marshes, the best of which are cut for hay at low tide, 

 yielding 0.5 to 1 ton per acre. Such hay is from 10 to 18 per ct. less 

 valuable than average mixed hay from the cultivated grasses for dairy 

 cows. In all humid regions of the country are fresh water marshes, 

 some of which are covered with the more nutritious true grasses, while 

 in others the rushes and sedges predominate. Such marsh hay as blue 

 joint, cut before maturity, nearly equals timothy in value. The 

 prairies of the Great Plains and the grazing ranges of the West sup- 

 port numerous native grasses that furnish excellent pasturage and 

 hay equal to timothy. 



Mixed grasses. — No matter how valuable a single variety of grass 

 may be, it should never be grown alone in permanent meadows and 

 pastures, but always in combination with other grasses and the clovers. 

 In the North an excellent combination is timothy, red top, and orchard 



