Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-03-24

The above table indicates that -millet
resembles oats more closely in the
amount and proportion Of digestible
material which it contains than it
does barley or corn; and together with
the other testimony the belief that
millet seed is reasonably sure
source OF available grain food, if in
telligently used. is certainly warrant
ed. Millet seed meal forms rather
heavy or concentrated food, and would
be more safely fed If mixed with some
coarser material like wheat bran or
cut hay or straw.
From the foregoing something will
be seen of the value of millet as a
feed and forage plant, as well as crop
to be grown in rotation with ether
small grains as a humus producer
and conserver of soil moisture. But
for the latter purpose the per ennials
have been found the better suited on
account of their closer roofing habits,
and the fact that in old worn out soils
longer period than one year is re-
quired to form sufficient sod to OBJ
tain the best results. Of the per en-
malls, clover. timothy, blue grass and
alfalfa are the leading grasses used for
soiling purposes. All of them do fair
ly we'll in the older settled portions OF
the eastern part of this state, but ex-
periments thus far in the western por-
tion have failed to bring the most
satisfactory results. Alfafa will do
we'll on any soil where irrigation is
practicable it requires great
amount of moistTe-or on land hav-
ing a porous subsoi1 with water not
too far from the surface. On such a
soil with conditions of sufficient sur
face moisture for the first season to
give it proper start, alfalfa has
been found to be a profitable forage
crop. as it will stand two to three cut
tings in a single season, and as soil
fertilizer it is simply incomparable It
should not be sown on land that is
covered with water in the early spring
nor on land that cannot be drained of
surplus moisture at any time. Experi-
ments with other varieties ofclover-
except the common white clover have
not been attended with satisfactory
results in western North Dakota.
Blue grass has been found to do we'll
on the heavier soils when sufficient
moisture has obtained to give it good
start during the first season. 1t is
not, however. SO valuable as a forage
crop as almost any of the other
grasses, and l. dry seasons will not at
tain sufficient length as to be available
as hay crop. ~
On low lying lands that have been
sufficiently subdued by continuous cul-
tivation, timothy has been found to
do well and furnish a most excellent
crop of hay, but as the fertility of such
lands has not as yet become sufficiently
impaired to cause serious apprehen-
sion, and as our native meadows have
always furnished sufficient forage
for our live stock, and as our grazing
facilities have thus far proven mex
haustible, this old and papular per
ennial has hitherto been given but lit
tie attention. I--
Much of the land embraced in what
is known as the Missouri slope coun-
try, combining the necessary chemical
constituents for the production of all
the cereals for long period of time
is deficient in organic matter. While
it may be practicable to supply this ele-
ment by the blowing under of rank
growths of any of the quick growing
plants, such as millet, buckwheat, etc,
it has been found that not only does
this leave the organic matter supplied
in an unassimilated mass buried
beneath the surface, permitting the
soil to be drifted away by the nigh
winds Of spring, resulting in profit
tempted waste of the humus that is ait
tempted to be conserved, but it fails
to serve the dual purpose of renewing
fertility and supplying forage for live
stock, an element in soiling crop
that is much to be desired.
1t is believed. however, that in the
new Australian bronze grass (bromus
inermis) a grass has been found that
will serve this double purpose, and is
adapted to this soil and climate. 1t.
seems to combine all the elements of
a pasture and forage plant, and is OF
the close roofing habit that is so es