April 1, 1895,] Supplement to the "Tropical Ar/ricultanst." 
709 
part of the grass vegetation of the mar tracks in 
the north-western provinces, and is always a sure 
indication of the presence of reh salts. Other 
grasses mentioned as more or less characteristic of 
saline salts are Aristida devressa, Ketz. (more 
sandy parts): Cynodon Dactylon, Pers. (on less 
infected parts) ; Chloris barbata, Sw. (more sandy 
parts) ; Tetropoyon villosus, Desf. ; and Diplachne 
fusca, Beauv. (in moister parts). 
Annual Fodder Grasses. 
In dry regions not suitable for permanent pas- 
tures the Abyssinian Teff (Erayrostis abyssinica) 
might be grown during the occasional rains and 
made into hay. This grass will produce a heavy 
crop of hay in six weeks from the time of sowing. 
It is very nourishing, and cattle are very fond of 
it. There are other annual grasses that might be 
grown during the rains for fodder purposes. In 
Northern India green wheat is used as fodder, 
and where a large yield is desired within a short 
season, green oats are also used, as in St. Helena, 
for fodder purposes. The maize (Zea Mays) is 
often given as a green fodder, or dried and mixed 
with other green fodder. On sugar estates in the 
West Indies and elsewhere " cane tops" are largely 
used during crop time as fodder for working 
cattle, mules, &c. The tops are cut small, and 
sometimes mixed with molasses. They are re- 
garded ns most nourishing. In Mysore Soryhum 
saccharatum is regarded as an excellent fodder, 
and if cut before seeding it is well suited for cattle, 
especially milch cows — '' their milk being enriched 
to an extraordinary degree by its use in small quanti- 
ties." The United States Agricultural Department 
has declared that " the value of sorghum for feed- 
ing stock cannot be surpassed by another crop, as 
a greater amount of nutritious fodder can be ob- 
tained from it in a shorter time, within a given 
space, and more cheaply." The common sorghum 
(Soryhum vulyare), the Judr of India, is largely 
used as fodder, green or dry. It is often specially 
grown as a fodder crop, in which case it is sown 
earlier and more thickly than when cultivated for 
the grain. 
A very valuable fodder grass belonging to this 
group is the Teosiute (fiuc/ilama lu.cui ians). This 
yields very large crops in good land, and is re- 
garded as one of the most prolific of annual grasses. 
Four good cuttings can be made in four months. 
Most of these annual grasses, as also many 
coarse-growing perennial grasses, might be largely 
utilised by being pieserved in the green state in 
silos. In* South Africa silos, consisting merely of 
pits dug in the ground, have been found very 
useful in preserving fodder that would otherwise 
be lost, until the dry season. The cost of making 
silos is comparatively trifling, but it should be 
borne in mind that fodder preserved as hay is often 
more generally useful, and especially if made in 
good weather. Silos, on the other hand, offer a 
very ready and convenient means for preserving 
fodder during wet seasons, when it is impossible 
to make it into hay. 
Gn ass Growing in India. 
Voelcker* records an instance of the greatest 
care in grass growing in India, at Nadiad, in 
Gujarat (Bombay), where the cultivators do not 
use the village common land for their cattle. 
* Report of the Improvement of Indian Agricul- 
ture, London, L893, 
" Every one of their fields," he says, " is enclosed 
witli a hedge, and then comes a headland of grass 
from 15 to 20 feet wide all round the field, and 
producing capital grass. There is a double object 
in this practice, for, as the fields are hedged, and 
have trees round them for supplying firewood and 
wood for implements, the people know quite well 
that crops will not grow when thus shaded, but 
that grass will. They obtain four or five cuttings 
of grass in the year as food for their cattle, and 
when the fields are empty the cattle are let in to 
graze on them. . . . Dub grass (Cynodon Dac- 
tylon) as a crop foi irrigation gives a great yield, 
and is about the only grass that keeps green in the 
hot weather. At Belgaum, fields are grown with 
grass ; two cuttings are obtained yearly, and 6 
annas is the sum paid for 100 lb. of green grass. 
No seed is ever sown, only the grass that comes 
np naturally being used." 
To supply grass to military cantonments in 
India regular grass farms have recently been es- 
tablished. These were started by Sir Herbert 
Macpherson at Allahabad in 1882, and since then 
have been extended largely. 
Previous to the introduction of the grass farm 
system, the practice had been to send out "grass- 
cutters," whose duty it was to cut and collect 
grass for the troops from wherever they could. 
Owing to a full supply of grass being now obtain- 
able by the "grass-cutters" from Government 
grass lands great saving has been experienced, and 
the horses are believed to be healthier owing to 
the grass no longer coming from unprotected and 
suspicious sources. The amount of grass grown at 
military stations in India has beeu so increased 
that it is now possible to -supply not only the 
British troops, but even the native cavalry with 
it. The saving at Allahabad alone for the seven 
years 1882-89 was estimated at R91.158. The ex- 
tent of the Allahabad grass farm is 3,558 acres. 
Ensilage, or the preserving of green fodder, has 
been carried out at many places in India. The 
cost as between haymaking and that of silage is, 
however, unfavourable to the latter. One advan- 
tage of cutting an early crop of grass for silage is 
that there are many grasses, such as numerous 
species of Panicum, which seed in the rains ; these 
may be secured as silage if rain continues, whereas 
the other grasses, being kept back somewhat, jield 
a good hay crop about October, when the rains are 
over. It may further be said in favour of silage 
that by means of it some grass which would other- 
wise have been altogether lost owing to the heavy 
rains is saved by beingput into the silo. Voelcker 
concludes: "I differ entirely from the opiniou of 
one of my predecessors to the effect that India is 
the great field for the development of silage. That 
it is the field for haymaking I am much more ready 
to think. With a sun and climate such as exist 
over the greater part of India, I cannot see how it 
could well be otherwise. Hay requires no 
making, for it makes itself. Silage, I repeat, will 
only be useful when by means of it can be saved 
what would otherwise be lost." 
♦ 
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES FOR AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
The order llodentia is characterised by two 
long incisor teeth in each jaw, separated by u 
