.. KM. 
it is requested that the following 
number be quoted in the reply 
to this letter. 
thbia... ■- • 
CENTRAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 
SERDANG, SUNGE1 BESI, P.O., 
FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 
>A$.. 
L#ear Corner, 
tOth June, 
1 9 
A'‘V 
M© * S*' 
41. 
. 7-Zy ' > 
A 
V 
A great many thanks for your letter of ^.bA\. 
The problem of non-graminaeceous cattle fodders is one 
which has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves. 
Our investigations have not gone very far and at the moment I can 
suggest only two plants which can be grown as a cover crop between 
the planting rows of young rubber and which can also be cut as 
fodder for stall feeding of cattle. They are the well known 
Centrosema pubescens and the less common Indigofera endecaphylla . 
Of the two, indigofera is probably the better in that 'it regenerates 
more readily after cutting. Meitner species, however, should be 
cut oftener than once every six months and cutting rounds should 
be organised accordingly. A further point to note is that neither 
cover should ever be cut at ground level:to do so would render tne 
soil liable to erosion and recovery of the plants slow and uncertain. 
Gutting should be done 2-J inches from ground level, and land of 
fair fertility (.which should oe maintained if possible by top¬ 
dressing of manure after cutting - the coolies would probably be 
willing to sacrifice some of their cattle manure and spread it 
themselves; should yield from 3 to 5 tons of green material per 
cutting per acre. 
As regards palatability both Centrosema and Indigofera 
are relished by cattle, being legumes, however,' they are thought 
to be too rich to feed in such quantities as to satisfy the entire 
bulk requirements of an animal, and the solution to the problem 
would appear to be either:- . 
(a^ to give the animal sufficient pasture to satisfy 
half of its bulk requirement with grass L acre 
of pasture per animal would probably be enough;. 
or 
(bj to stall feed it almost entirely and satisfy its 
bulk requirement as to half witn coarse fodder grass 
which could be grown on a specially reserved area, 
and as to half with Centrosema or Indigofera 
It might be worth mentioning that cattle readily graze young lalang 
which has not been permitted to grow coarse (cutting with a scythe 
or burning will rectify matters; and as a matter of fact if the 
grazing is continuous and sufficiently heavy, the lalang will 
eventually die out and more succulent grasses of the Axonopus and 
Paspalum types will take its place. 
I know very little about besmanthus virgatus as yet, and 
I would prefer that the material should not go out of my hands until 
I know more about it. In any case I have very little seed. 
8 Zj f So 
as regards cultivation of Centrosema and Indigofera 
your planter friend probably knows a great deal more about the game 
than 1 do. Should any information be required however it is readily 
available in this Department's leaflet en£ "Cover crops" a copy of 
which is enclosed. I am sorry that Serdang cannot at tne moment 
supply any Indigofera cuttings, but these ought to be available 
in limited numbers Tater in the year, October/November. Indigofera 
seed is obtainable from the usual merchants, but I rather think it 
is expensive. 
^Please convey my kind regards to krs.Corner. -, 
- Yours sincqpely,"* 
\ v 
