23 



growth. However, it materially helps out in the feed problem on 

 lands where perennial grasses do not thrive or are not yet established. 



Cenchrus echinatus (PI. V, 2), umealu, sanclbur, is well dis- 

 tributed up to about 4,000 feet, but occurs in thicker stands below 

 1,000 or 1,200 feet elevation. While the grass is young it furnishes 

 excellent feed, but when the burs are forming it is of no value. The 

 burs are troublesome, particularly in the wool of sheep. Neverthe- 

 less, the grass is highly .valued on some of the sheep ranches, though 

 it causes some loss through the reduced price received for the wool. 

 It is valuable on the lower dry lands where perennial grasses do not 

 thrive, along with kakonakona and other annuals. It is very drought- 

 resistant and prefers sandy, dry locations. It has been widely 

 scattered in baled alfalfa hay. Because of its ability to withstand 

 dry conditions, and reseed itself in spite of heavy grazing, and because 

 of its longer season of growth it is recommended for feed on lands 

 where better grasses will not grow. 



Panicum barbinode, Para grass (PL VI, fig. l),has become generally 

 known in Hawaii as " panicum " grass. 1 This grass was introduced 

 from Fiji in 1902, and was soon well distributed over the islands. As 

 it does not seed profusely it is propagated entirely by sections of the 

 long jointed stems which strike root readily when embedded in damp 

 soil. Because of the trailing habit of growth of these stems, the grass 

 will soon occupy a field even when thinly planted. As the roots 

 are shallow, the grass can easily be eradicated when not wanted. 



The grass is grown in all parts of Hawaii under heavy rainfall or 

 irrigation as a green soiling crop for horses and dairy cattle. No 

 attempt at haymaking is made. As a pasture grass it is used to 

 some extent, but reports as to its value are rather meager. It is 

 palatable, fairly nutritious, although somewhat coarse and fibrous. 

 It does not stand pasturing well. All the good results with Para 

 grass are reported from low, wet lands, and failures from high, dry 

 lands. 



Panicum grass is primarily a wet-land grass and requires an abun- 

 dance of water. Even an excess of water will not injure it, and it can 

 be planted in marshy places where other grasses would not thrive. 

 Semimarshy lands are often dried out by planting Para grass upon 

 them, thus making them less dangerous as places for the miring of 

 stock. The grass is not killed by overflows. 



The yields obtained vary with the fertility and moisture. At the 

 Glenwood substation, with heavy rainfall, and where the manure was 

 returned to the plat, a yield at the rate of 31 tons per acre of green 

 forage in four cuttings was obtained within nine months of planting. 

 At Hanalei four or five crops per year are obtained, the grass being 



1 Hawaii. Forester and Agr., 4 (1907), p. 277. 



