302 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



For this purpose it is a very useful forage plant. It 

 should be cut preferably when 3 or 4 feet high before the 

 stems become hard and pithy. In the southernmost 

 states it can be cut three or four times in a season and on 

 very rich soil as many as six cuttings may be obtained. 



Penicillaria has been recommended for silage, but for 

 this purpose is not as desirable as corn or sorghum. 



The culture of penicillaria is practically like that of 

 corn or sorghum. It is most commonly planted in rows 



3 feet wide and 3 to 6 inches apart in the rows, under which 

 conditions it stools abundantly. For thus planting, about 



4 pounds of seed per acre are needed. It may also be 

 planted thickly, either drilled or broadcasted, under 

 which conditions it does not stool so much nor grow so 

 large. Thus sown it may be cut and cured as hay, but 

 on account of its thick stems is not easily dried. For this 

 purpose about 30 pounds of seed should be sown to the acre. 

 Sowing should take place about the same time as corn, as 

 the plant does not withstand frost either in spring or fall. 



On good soils penicillaria will yield as large or larger 

 crops of forage than sorghums, but on poorer soils not 

 so much. Yields to the acre of green fodder have been re- 

 corded by experiment stations as follows : South Carolina, 

 6 cuttings, 94,424 pounds; Georgia, 52,416 pounds in 

 3 cuttings ; Alabama, 13,800 pounds ; Louisiana, 16,000 

 pounds ; Kentucky, 80,320 in 2 cuttings ; Delaware, 

 9964 pounds ; New Mexico, 56,600 pounds ; Arkansas, 

 9600 pounds ; California, 63,000 pounds ; New Jersey, 

 24,000 pounds. 



Dry fodder yields to the acre are reported as' follows : 

 North Carolina, 6806 pounds ; Kentucky, 32,800 pounds ; 

 Georgia, 19,474 pounds ; Alabama, 2900 pounds ; Arkansas, 

 9600 pounds; Washington, D.C., 15,440 pounds. 



