SUDAN GRASS AND RELATED PLANTS. 51 
beet pulp, coconut meal, wheat bran, and rolled barley in the pro- 
portion of 4 to 1 to 1 tol by weight. The cows icceived 1 pound of 
this grain mixture for each 5 pounds of milk they produced. Corn 
silage was fed in the first and third periods, Sudan grass silage in the 
Poona period. 
The results were slightly 1 in favor of the corn silage. The average 
daily production of milk in periods 1 and 3 was 19.6 pounds; in the 
second period it was 18.9 pounds. Butter fat, periods 1 and 3, 0.916 
pound; period 2, 0.879 pound. If the production is indicated on 
the basis of dry matter fed in the different periods, it is found that the 
production of milk was 10 per cent larger and the fat 11 per cent 
larger for the corn-silage periods than it was for the period when Sudan 
erass silage was fed. 
Some experimental work with Sudan grass as a silage crop has 
been carried on at the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station and 
also at the Manitoba Agricultural College. The yields, however, are 
sure to be the determining factor as to whether Sudan grass will be 
used in making silage: The best yield that can be expected from 
Sudan grass in most localities is 6 to 10 tons per acre. Corn in the 
real corn States and sorghum in the semiarid regions will yield nearly 
double that quantity; hence, there seems little chance for Sudan grass 
to be widely used as a silage crop. 
SUDAN GRASS AS A GRAIN CROP. 
The yields of the seed are so small (see Table XX) that Sudan grass 
has never been seriously considered as a grain crop. If, however, a 
strain of Sudan grass or a hybrid between Sudan grass and sorghum 
could be developed which would produce seed more abundantly and 
retain the vegetative characteristics of Sudan grass as well as its 
ability to withstand drought, it might be a good substitute for oats 
in the semiarid region. Such a grass sorghum would become popular 
on account of the ease of harvesting and thrashing, even though the 
average yleld of seed were somewhat less than that of kafir or milo. 
A grass sorghum the height of Sudan grass could be harvested easily 
with a grain binder and thrashed like bundle grain. The straw would 
be much superior to that of the ordinary small grains; in fact, practi- 
cally equal to prairie hay as a roughage for live stock. 
In so far as the composition of the seed is concerned, Sudan grass 
seed is equal in feeding value to most other cereals. A comparison 
of the composition of Sudan grass seed with that of the common 
cereal grains of the United States is given in Table XVIII. 
The presence of a slight amount of tannin in the seed of Sudan grass 
would perhaps lower its feeding value somewhat. This objectionable 
feature may be overcome by the development of a white-seeded 
strain. 
