SUDAN GRASS AND RELATED PLANTS. 31 



expected to sow 2 pecks of Sudan grass seed (15 'to 20 pounds'). If 

 the drill feed can not be set to sow thinly enough, bran or some other 

 inert substance may be mixed with the Sudan grass seed. Alfalfa 

 and grass seed drills or attachments have been used by some farmers 

 for sowing Sudan grass. Although such machines work in some 

 cases, their general use is not recommended because the seed of 

 Sudan grass is so much larger than that of alfalfa, clover, and timothy 

 that it stops up the feeds frequently, and as a result the seed may be 

 sown too thinly and not covered deeply enough. 



Broadcasting is recommended only when the area to be sown is 

 small, the seed not well cleaned, or no suitable drill is available. 

 About 25 per cent more seed should be used in broadcasting than in 

 drilling, and it should be harrowed in well at once. The objections to 

 broadcasting are that it distributes and covers the seed so unevenly 

 that more seed is required, and a good stand is not as certain as when 

 the crop is drilled. 



CULTIVATED ROWS. 



In the dry regions west of the 98th meridian, cultivated rows 

 frequently show a greater superiority over drilled seedings than is 

 indicated by the comparative yields of hay. During drought periods, 

 as at Hays, Kans., in 1916, intertilled plats produced nearly normal 

 plants, while adjoining close-drilled Sudan grass failed to head out 

 and produced an inferior quality of hay, though the yield per acre 

 was nearly equal to that from the rows. When seed is very scarce 

 and expensive, wide rows' are preferable, because they require much 

 less seed per acre. 



On the other hand, as the row width increases the hay becomes 

 enough coarser to lower its market value somewhat. The actual 

 feeding value, however, is not reduced much, if any; for when row 

 plantings are harvested at the proper stage of maturity and fed 

 intelligently the stems as well as the leaves are practically all 

 consumed . 



Hay from cultivated rows mowed and raked in the usual way is 

 sometimes objectionable because of the clods and dust gathered up 

 with it. This condition is seldom troublesome except in seasons of 

 drought or in fields cultivated deeper or later than usual. Cutting 

 row plantings with a binder solves the dust problem. 



The bunchy root system developed by Sudan grass in wide rows 

 sometimes makes soil preparation for the next crop expensive and 

 difficult. Fields, after being in 40-inch rows at the Fort Hays Ex- 

 periment Station, Hays, Kans., in 1915, were placed in condition for 

 cropping the next year with great difficulty. (Fig. 18.) After plow- 

 ing, it required two double diskings and several harrowings to fit the 

 land for 1916 crops. Close-drilled fields at the same station that 

 year and 24-inch row plantings the preceding year left roots so much 



