ANI> OTHER FORAGE PLANTS. 109 



PENICILLARIA. 



P. SPICATA, African Cane, Horse, Cat-tail, Egyptian, Ja- 

 pan, East Indian, or Pearl Millet. 



This grass has been grown to some extent for twenty-five 

 years in many parts of the southern States more largely since 

 1865. Like all the other millets it should be planted on very 

 rich, well prepared land to obtain the best results. It may be 

 planted in the spring as soon as the ground is sufficiently warm 

 to bring it up promptly, one peck of seed per acre in drills two 

 feet apart, or two pecks broadcast. No crop will pay better or- 

 yield more forage than this on very rich, highly fertilized land. 

 On such land it has been cut on an average every forty-five 

 days from the time of planting till frost, with a reported pro- 

 duct of 80 to 100 tons of green forage, or from 16 to 20 tons of 

 dry hay. At the beginning of the season if the ground is too 

 wet and cold, it starts slowly; but as the temperature rises and 

 more roots are made its growth is more rapid so that it becomes 

 marvellous, increasing from six inches a ^ r eek in the beginning 

 to fifteen or twenty inches a week in the summer the whole 

 number of cuttinirs in the season aggregating a total length of 

 twenty or twenty-five feet. It tillers enormously and produces 

 a large number of broad succulent leaves and sweet, juicy stalks 

 with rather short joints and terminal spikes that resemble 

 in general appearance the common cat-tail growing in southern 

 marshes. 



Where it grows luxuriantly, it is impossible to cure it for hay 

 on the ground upon which it is grown ; so that it would be im- 

 practicable to make hay of a large field of it sown solid. Hence 

 it must be sown in small patches or in beds with spaces be- 

 tween upon which to spread it when cut. Another serious troub- 

 le would occur in the attempt to cure the grass on the ground 

 where it grew. When cut, it would cover the stubble so deep 

 and be so long curing that much of the latter would be killed 

 and all damaged. These difficulties would occur only on rich 

 land to begin with and then manured with five or ten tons or 

 more of stable manure or its equivalent per acre. But any one 

 can have the crop as light as he chooses, even less than half a 

 ton per acre, by sowing on poorly prepared and exhausted land. 

 It will be readily understood however, that the best plan is to 

 sow small patches on the strongest land on the farm ; for on most 

 farms a small surface of good land would produce enough of the 

 forage whether to use green or dry. 



To make the best hay, it should be cut before seeding ; for 

 feeding green, it may be cut many times. It should always be 

 cut a few inches (three, or four) above the ground, as new 

 growth will thus be more prompt than when cut close, to the 

 ground. 



