12 BULLETIN 72, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 
Table 1. — Yields of Napier and other grasses (1 year's results) 
Grass 
Cuttings 
per year 
Green 
weight per 
acre 
Air-dry 
forage 
Air-dry 
weight per 
acre 
Napier ... _ _____ ... ... __ __ 
Number 
5 
7 
5 
8 
Tons 
87.75 
59.77 
48.20 
48.97 
Percent 
12.3 
14.3 
23.4 
21.0 
Tons 
10. 80± i 0. 96 
8. 54± . 76 
11. 28± 1.01 
10. 30± . 92 
Merker . ._ . __ . 
Guinea.. . . . ... .. .. 
Sudan ... _._ ___ ... . . 
1 Standard error in tons for a mean of 6 plats. All yields given are calculated from six }4o-acre plats of 
each variety, after tha border rows were removed. 
It will be noted that on the green basis Napier grass produced a 
much higher yield than did the other grasses in the test. As table 1 
shows, however, the Napier grass had the lowest percentage of air- 
dry forage of any of the four, and on the dry basis guinea grass pro- 
duced slightly more and Sudan grass only slightly less total weight 
per acre. The yield of Merker grass was somewhat lower than the 
others, but not significantly lower than that of Napier grass. It was 
observed that throughout the season the Merker grass grew more 
rapidly than the Napier grass and as a consequence two more cuttings 
were possible. Each cutting of Napier grass, however, gave a larger 
yield than the cuttings of Merker grass, and the total yield during the 
year was slightly higher. 
It was observed that dairy cows liked the Sudan and Napier grasses 
somewhat better than the Merker and guinea grasses. The Napier 
grass had softer stems and was fed with less waste than the Merker 
grass. 
PERSISTENCE OF STAND 
At the end of the first year of this experiment the grasses were all 
in excellent condition except the Sudan grass, which had become some- 
what thinned out. Because of its shallow root system this species 
suffered considerable injury during the cutting process, especially if 
dull sickles were used, many of the plants of Sudan grass being pulled 
up or at least partially broken loose from the soil, with the result that 
after a few months the stand was considerably weakened. However, 
a remarkable total yield was obtained from Sudan grass in this 
experiment. 
The guinea grass seemed to be in excellent condition, but the yields 
were falling off rapidly before the end of the year. Although the 
total yield of the guinea grass was higher than that of any of the 
other grasses, nearly one half of this yield was produced in the plant 
crop. This grass might be used more successfully as a pasture grass, 
for its ratoon growths are too small to cut satisfactorily, requiring 
about twice as much time for harvesting as does Napier or Merker 
grass. All plats of Napier and Merker grasses showed excellent 
stands at the end of the year and offered promise of maintaining a 
high level of production for future cuttings. A need for fertilizer 
was apparent, however, in practically all cases. 
The true perennial nature of the Napier and Merker grasses with 
their strong spreading root systems makes for permanence, and it is 
probable that with proper cultivation, plenty of moisture, and the 
addition of fertilizers when needed, excellent yields could be main- 
tained for 5 to 6 years from a single planting. 
