juiy 2 2> 1918 Composition and Digestibility of Sudan-Grass Hay 179 
The Kansas records (7) also show that when the herd of milking cows 
was turned from a native pasture on to a Sudan pasture the average 
daily production of milk was increased 3.2 pounds per head, even though 
Sudan grass is not a first-class pasture plant. In addition, they also 
found that for wintering work horses and mules and young beef cattle 
Sudan-grass hay was of considerably less value than alfalfa hay. 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK 
The Sudan grass used in the work reported in this paper was grown 
on the College dairy farm. During the two years in which this crop 
has been grown there it has given good results as a soiling crop, the aver¬ 
age yield being 11 tons of green feed per acre for one cutting. In 1916a 
small amount of second growth was made into hay. Sudan grass seems 
to be palatable and much relished by the stock, and good results have 
been obtained in the feeding of both the soiling and the hay. 
In 1915 analyses were made of the crop at various stages of growth. 
The samples were all taken from one small plot in the center of the area 
grown for soiling and the results of the analyses are expressed as per¬ 
centages of the total dry matter present. 
Table VI.— Composition of dry matter of Sudan grass at various stages of growth 
Stage of growth. 
Before 
heading. 
Headed 
out. 
Full 
i bloom. 
1 
Half 
ripe. 
Ripe. 
Total dry matter. 
Protein. 
Nitrogen-free extract. 
Crude fiber. 
Ether extract. 
Ash. 
Per cent. 
20. 80 
8. 80 
48. 12 
32.98 
2.3I 
7 * 79 
Per cent. 
20. 96 
9.78 
46. 04 
35 - 50 
2. 62 
6.06 
Per cent. 
2 5 - 74 
6- 57 
5 °*19 
3 2 * 36 
3 * 53 
7 - 35 
Per cent. 
30.08 
5-02 
S 3 ’ 3 2 
32.98 
2 . IO 
6. 58 
Per cent, 
3 1 * 9 2 
4. 29 
53 * 73 
33-83 
1. 66 
6.49 
As the moisture decreases and the dry matter content increases in the 
later stages of growth of Sudan grass, a few minor changes take place in 
the relative proportions of the individual constituents of the dry matter. 
In the earlier stages of ripening the protein seems to increase, while it 
decreases in the later stages. The changes in the fat content are very 
similar to those of the protein content, but lag behind them. The 
changes in the proportions of nitrogen-free extract and ash are in the 
opposite direction to those of the protein and ether extract. Peculiarly, 
the relative proportion of the crude fiber to the other constituents of 
the dry matter appears to be greater when the plants have headed out 
than when the crop is ripe. The difference is not great, however, and 
can probably be explained by the fact that the seed, of which the yield 
is quite heavy, is very low in crude fiber. It has been found at the 
Maryland Station (6) that cleaned Sudan-grass seed contains only 1.19 
