;6 MAIZE 



CHAP. Peanut cake 



XV. Bran . 



Lucerne hay .......-- 



Teff grass {Evagvosth abyssiuica) hay (Transvaal grown) . 

 Boer manna (Setaria italica) hay (Transvaal grown) 

 Natal blue-grass hay l ...... . 



Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) (Transvaal grown) 

 English meadow-hay ....... 



1 Several grasses pass under the name of Natal Blue-grass, e.g. Thcmeda 

 fr'orsialii, and species of Andropogon. 



728. Mixtures to Increase the Feeding I 'aluc of Maize Silage. 

 — To give more " balance" to the ration of maize silage some 

 nitrogenous material should be added. Where concentrated 

 foodstuffs such as linseed meal, peanut meal, hominy-chop, or 

 soybean cake are cheap, they can be added to the daily ration. 

 But many farmers will probably find it more economical to 

 grow a leguminose crop which can be cut up and mixed with 

 the maize in the silo. There are several such crops which can 

 be grown in the summer season and used in this way. These 

 include : — 



Velvet-beans (Mucuna utilis). A Bush-veld and Low-coun- 

 try crop, rather slow of growth, but giving a remarkably heavy 

 yield. The seed should not be planted until the ground is 

 warm. It is usually planted in rows 4 feet apart, with two or 

 three seeds dropped every 2 feet in the row. Sometimes the 

 velvet-bean is planted with the maize for silage, but this may 

 interfere somewhat with the cleaning of the latter crop. 



Cowpeas or kaffir-beans (Vigtia Catjang) form a valuable 

 crop for silage or for hay. In cold soils the seed is apt to rot 

 if planted before the ground is warm. The principal drawback 

 to the cowpea as a farm crop is the difficulty of threshing 

 the seed, as the pods do not open easily. In the Southern 

 States, where it is largely grown for stock-food, farmers usually 

 shell out only enough to plant their own crop ; the seed is 

 particularly subject to weevil ; for these reasons it is both 

 scarce and costly, but there is generally a limited supply on 

 the local markets. A good plan is to sow cowpeas broadcast 

 among the maize at the time of the last (say the fourth) 

 cultivation. This adds to the feeding value of the stover or 

 fodder and helps to check the seeding of weeds. 



Velvet-beans and cowpeas are usually cut for silage when 



