SOUTHERN GRASSES 247 



Texas, but to some extent in Mississippi, Louisiana and 

 Alabama. The demand for it is not large. The grass is 

 commonly cut with a binder, cured in the shock and 

 thrashed with a grain separator. The yields are said to be 

 8 or 10 bushels per acre, but a crop of hay can be harvested 

 after the seed crop. The commercial seed is often low in 

 viability, seldom testing as high as 70 per cent. 



JAPANESE SUGAR-CANE (Saccharum officinarum) 



295. History and characteristics. The Japanese or 

 Zwinga sugar-cane was introduced by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, in 1878, from Japan. At first 

 it was used mainly for sirup, but in recent years it has 

 been employed largely as forage. 



Japanese sugar-cane differs from the varieties grown 

 for sugar in having more numerous, more slender stems ; 

 firmly attached leaf sheaths which make it difficult to 

 strip the canes ; narrower, smoother leaves than the varie- 

 ties grown primarily for sugar ; and especially in its long 

 period of productivity, new canes growing from the old 

 roots for 12 years or more, apparently without any tend- 

 ency for the yield to lessen on account of age of the plants. 

 According to Scott, a new system of roots is developed 

 each season. 



296. Adaptations. Japanese sugar-cane in the United 

 States is adapted only to the region south of latitude 33, 

 except in California, where it has succeeded fairly well in 

 the Sacramento Valley. A temperature of about 15 

 F. is about the minimum the roots will withstand. It is 

 apparently more resistant to cold than any other variety. 



Sugar-cane will grow in any type of soil if fairly well 

 drained, but large yields are secured only on fertile 



