CHAPTEK XVII. 

 GRASSES AND MILLETS 



GEASSES. 



The culture of grasses for animals is mainly an outcome 

 of European civilisation, and then only in regions where 

 Europeans have become estabhshed. In Oriental countries 

 the by-products of crops grown for human beings have been 

 utilised for stock, and only in recent years, and to a limited 

 extent, have grasses been grown for stock. 



The grasses cultivated for hay, pasture, fodder and soiling 

 play a relatively small part in South African agriculture when 

 compared with that of European, American and even Australian 

 farming. The hay crops of America, composed chiefly of 

 grasses, are valued second only to maize. 



The reason for this lies, firstly, largely in the fact that, 

 farming in South Africa being still in an extensive phase, stall 

 feeding has not supplemented ranching to the extent it has in 

 many older countries. The chief necessity on the large farms 

 of South Africa is to produce hay and fodder for the winter 

 months, when the natural pasturage does not meet the needs 

 of the stock. As farming becomes more intensive, the cultiva- 

 tion of grasses for pasture, hay, fodder and soiling will doubt- 

 less become more necessary. Secondly, the climate of South 

 Africa is totally unsuited to the growth of many of the grasses 

 cultivated in America, Canada and Europe, e.g., Timothy and 

 Kentucky Blue Grass. Hitherto, experimental work with 

 grasses has rather centred on European and American grasses, 

 and their success on South African farms has been very local 

 and never general. The cultivated grasses in the older 

 countries owe their success to the relatively high rainfall, more 

 evenly distributed than in South Africa, and to the more 

 moderate summer temperatures of those countries. 



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