CHAPTER XVI 

 ANNUAL FORAGE GRASSES 



426. Introduction. Several annual grasses are quite 

 generally grown as forage crops, while in some sections 

 large acreages of the cereals are cut for hay. In addition, a 

 large part of the straw and stover which is a by-product of 

 grain growing is fed to stock. The principal annual plants 

 of the grass family which are grown for forage are the millets, 

 the sorghums, corn, oats, wheat, and barley. The Census 

 figures for 1909 show that millet was grown on 1,113,000 

 acres in the United States, with a production of 1,540,000 

 tons of hay; that grains cut green for hay were grown on 

 4,254,000 acres, producing 5,278,000 tons; and that coarse 

 forage was grown on 4,093,000 acres, with a total production 

 of 10,073,000 tons. The " grains cut green for hay" include 

 not only the cereals but also the annual leguminous crops 

 such as cowpeas and soy beans. The coarse forage includes 

 corn and the sorghums grown specially for the production of 

 forage. 



THE SORGHUMS 



427. Origin and Description. Sorghum, Andropogon 

 halepensi, is a native of Africa and southern Asia. The 

 forage sorghums are closely related to the grain sorghums 

 (Sec. 320) and to broomcorn (Sec. 326), for all these plants 

 have been developed from the same parent stock. They 

 differ from the other members of this group in having 

 abundant sweet juice, while the pith of the grain sorghums 

 and of broomcorn is dry or only slightly juicy. The plant 

 grows from 5 to 10 or more feet tall, with numerous broad 



