52 



BULLETIN 981, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table XVIII. — Comparison of the composition of Sudan grass seed with that of the 



common cereal grains. 



Grain. 



Sudan grass seed 



Oats 



Barley 



Wheat 



Corn 



Kaflrseed 



'Toisture 



10.47 

 9.20 

 9.30 

 10. 20 

 10.50 

 11.80 



Constituents (per cent). 



Ash. 



3.09 

 3.50 

 2.70 

 1.90 

 1.50 

 1.70 



Ether 

 extract. 



3.81 

 4.40 

 2.10 

 2.10 

 5.00 

 3.00 



Protein. 



13.62 

 12.40 

 11.50 

 12.40 

 10.10 

 11.10 



Crude 



fiber. 



5.38 

 10.90 

 4.60 

 2.20 

 2.00 

 2.30 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



63.63 

 59.60 

 69. 80 

 71.20 

 70.90 

 70.10 



i The analysis of Sudan grass seed was made by Dr. G. S. Fraps, of the Texas experiment station; all 

 other analyses were taken from Henry and Morrison (10, p. 633-635). 



SEED PRODUCTION. 



The production of Sudan grass seed in the United States is a 

 matter of considerable importance, not only because most of the 

 acreage will always be cut for hay, but because good, pure seed is 

 obtained only when care is used in its production. 



LOCALITIES ADAPTED TO SEED PRODUCTION. 



Ever since Sudan grass became a crop of importance, northwestern 

 Texas has been the center of production for the seed. The total 

 production of Sudan grass seed in the United States in 1914 was 

 estimated at 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 pounds, approximately 3,000,000 

 pounds of which were produced in the vicinity of Lubbock, Tex. 

 There have been almost no failures of Sudan grass in this part of 

 Texas. East of the ninety-eighth meridian in Texas, seed production is 

 uncertain, however, owing to the presence of the sorghum midge (17). 



Kansas and Oklahoma rank next to Texas in the production of 

 Sudan grass seed. (See the map, fig. 22.) The sorghum midge is 

 not troublesome in either of these States, but drought often causes 

 a short seed crop. In the irrigated regions of Colorado, New Mexico, 

 Arizona, and California the seed yields are heavy and the quality of 

 the seed first class, but only limited quantities are grown under these 

 conditions, owing to the high price of the land and the profitable re- 

 turns from other crops. Yields of more than 2,000 pounds of seed per 

 acre have been reported from California and Arizona, and 1,700 pounds 

 from the vicinity of Lubbock, Tex., but the average in both regions 

 is much less. In other parts of the United States 300 to 500 pounds 

 of seed per acre is all that should be expected, as will be observed in 

 Table XX. The results in the growing of Sudan grass for six years 

 indicate that the seed can be produced successfully in all but the 

 States farthest north, where the seasons are too short, and the South- 

 eastern States, where the sorghum midge is present. 



