21 



It will be seen from the table that manienie has a fairly good com- 

 position, but that the digestibility is rather low. The Oklahoma analy- 

 ses indicate that young plants produce more nutritious feed than 

 older ones. The feeding value often coincides with the palatability. 

 It is well known that manienie is more relished by live stock when it 

 is kept closely grazed. 



The objections to manienie are that it is difficult to eradicate when 

 firmly established, it spreads too rapidly in cultivated fields, and it is 

 not sufficiently nutritious. It is good for maintenance, less so for 

 growth, and of little value for fattening unless the cattle have access 

 to other feed. Horses seem to keep in better condition upon it than 

 do cattle. Another objection to it is that in dry seasons it may cause 

 the loss of many animals through a form of " staggers." Cattle should 

 have access to water when pastured on dry Bermuda; hence moun- 

 tain cattle unused to water sometimes suffer from this disease. 



Panicum crus-galli or EchinocKloa crus-galli (PI. Ill, 3), barnyard 

 grass, is a coarse weedy grass in rice and taro fields and along irriga- 

 tion ditches. When in sufficient amounts it is cut and used for green 

 feed. With the ratoons of the rice crop, it affords considerable graz- 

 ing for the water buffalo and other draft animals of the rice planters. 



Panicum frumentaceum or EchinocKloa frumentacea (cultivated in 

 India, as grain) is another species occurring with the above and not 

 distinguishable from it except by botanists. There are several varie- 

 ties of the barnyard grass itself, the variations being in botanical 

 characters mainly. It is a widely distributed species, and although it 

 becomes a weed in tilled fields it is easily kept in control. It some- 

 times produces a hay crop after the removal of a cultivated crop. It 

 is a very nutritious grass, being rich in protein and fat. 



Panicum colonum or EchinocKloa colona (PL III, 2) is also similar 

 to the barnyard grass and is often found with it. This species is 

 smaller, however, and prefers less moist situations. It springs up 

 after rains and furnishes grazing for a short time only, as it soon seeds 

 and dies down. It occurs abundantly in wide rocky gulches or val- 

 leys on Molokai at low elevations. There it is known as u six- weeks" 

 grass, but in other countries it is called jungle rice. 



Clisetochloa verticillata (PL I, 2), or bristly foxtail grass, occurs 

 plentifully about Honolulu. It grows very rapidly after good rains, 

 and is cut by many of the dairymen and used as a soiling crop. It is 

 considered equal, or superior, to Para grass for milk production. The 

 mature grass is of less value. Horses do not seem to like it. It is a 

 troublesome weed in cultivated fields where the seed is always pres- 

 ent, ready to spring up when moisture is supplied. The beards have 

 a hook or barb, and when the heads are mature they cling to manes 

 and tails of animals or to the clothes of any one passing and are thus 

 distributed. 



