SUDAN GRASS AND RELATED PLANTS. 81 
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 1t stops up the feeds frequently, and as a result the seed may be 
sown too thinly and not covered deeply enough. 
Broadcasting 1s 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 
