46 BULLETIN 981, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Although an attempt was made to separate the cows into practi- 

 cally equal groups from the standpoint of milk production, the 

 quantity of milk produced by the different cows varied considerably, 

 and this affected the results. Cow No. 3 in lot 1 produced twice as 

 much milk as either of the other cows, and this made the difference 

 in the milk produced in the alfalfa period and the Sudan grass period 

 proportionately great. Since the alfalfa was fed earlier in the lacta- 

 tion period of this cow, the large yield of milk resulted in a disadvan- 

 tage to the Sudan grass. Notwithstanding this fact, the cows pro- 

 duced 97.8 per cent as much milk on Sudan grass as on the alfalfa 

 hay, though the Sudan grass hay was coarse and poorly cured, while 

 the alfalfa hay was first-class. 



Testimonials of hundreds of farmers who have fed Sudan grass hay 

 to all classes of live stock confirm the results of these more or less 

 definite experiments, indicating the high value of Sudan grass hay as 

 a roughage for work animals, stock cattle, and dairy cows. The con- 

 sensus of these reports from farmers is that cattle, horses, and sheep 

 all relish Sudan grass hay and eat it with no derangement of the 

 digestive processes and with good results when measured in gains of 

 flesh and ability to work or to produce milk. 



Experts in feeding live stock claim that Sudan grass gives the best 

 results only when fed in connection with other forage. It is not 

 well adapted to use as the sole roughage in rationing any kind of 

 animals. 



PASTURE. 



Sudan grass is perhaps most important as a hay grass, but it is 

 used more and more widely as a summer pasture. A number of 

 tests, more or less well arranged have been made in pasturing Sudan 

 grass at the different agricultural experiment stations throughout the 

 United States. These have been described briefly in Farmers' 

 Bulletin 1126, copies of which may be obtained free, on request, 

 from the Division of Publications, United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



At the experiment farm at Dodge City, Kans., Sudan grass furnished 

 abundant pasturage at the rate of one milk cow per acre for a grazing 

 period of 125 days, and the cows made a daily average of 3.2 pounds 

 more milk per cow on the Sudan grass than on native grasses. At 

 the Chillicothe (Tex.) substation, horses, mules, and cows all showed 

 a decided preference for Sudan grass over millet and Amber sorgo. 

 At the Arizona experiment farm, near Prescott, Sudan grass main- 

 tained 20 sheep to the acre continuously for 100 days. No irrigation 

 was given the grass during this period, yet the sheep fattened per- 

 ceptibly and did much better than those grazing on Amber sorgo. 

 At the California Agricultural Experiment Station, Davis, Calif. (14, 

 pp. 215-216), Sudan grass seeded on silt loam maintained approxi- 



