The Florida agriculturist., 1907-11-20
Johnson Grass Hay.

JOA4GA0OAA MI 0o0 110ys
If you have some land which you
are willing to devote to a permanent
meadow, you might try Johnson grass
The only objection to it has been that
once in the soil it is almost impossible
to get rid of it. 1t has proved to be
very profitable as a grass for making
hay, as is shown by the following from
the Rural New Yorker:.
Johnson grass is pretty we'll scattered
over eastern Mississippi, and it is in
most sections the main dependence for
dry forage. It is very nutritious
grass, and is full of saccharine matter,
hence stock are very fond of it, as they
are of all plants containing sugary mat
ter. 1t is more of hay grass than
pasture grass. On some soils much
pasturing will of itself exterminate it.;
this is true of sandy, light soils. On
heavier and more Waxy soils, the grass
seemingly disappears after a certain
period OF pasture. The land may re-
main in pasture for years and not a
Sprig of the grass be discernable, but
when the ground is plowed and an ef
fort made to grow a crop the grass
springs up over the land, and grows
off luxuriantly. By planting the land
Immediately after the plow, working
the crop rapidly and we'll, good corn
crops are frequently made. Flowing
the land loosens up the under soil and
breaks up the mass of cane-llke roots
of this grass, and the result is a lux
uriant growth of grass and a heavy
yield Of hay. In fact, plowing the
Johnson grass meadow at least every
two years is essential to secure maxi
mum yields of this grass. On good
lands, under fairly favorable condi-
tionS, three heavy crops of hay in one
season is not unusual. On such land
three and four tons of hay per acre is
not above the average. The quality of
the hay depends largely upon the stage
of moving; if the grass reaches too
mature an age, you get more bulk, but
case with nearly all hay grasses.
AS soon as the hay is ready to bale,
it can be readily sold at from 81 to $40
per ton f. o. b. Those who are not
posted, or who are in need of money,
usually sell in the fall and early winter.
Those who know conditions better, and
are not SO pressed for money, hold
the hay until spring, and get a much
better price for it. The spring prices
are always better. Last fall most of
the hay crop in this part of the state
was sold, and the price obtained was
around So per ton on cars. All who
held on till winter was over received
$I4 and SIS. One man here, who
works in bank, who has a partner IN
the hay business, informed me the
other day that they received a check
for $3.50, the proceeds of one single
car of hay. That sounds good for the
hay business. He stated further that
they sold good deal of hay last fall
at So per ton, not any better quality
than this last. Nearly all the hay that
is raised in this section is from lands
valued at from SIS to SIS per acre;
lands that could not be sold for more
money at this time. These lands un-
der proper treatment have a productive
capacity of from three to four tons of
marketable hay per annum Let us
figure on three tons per acre at $8
Here we have a gross income of, say,
$24 per acre at the minimum price,
or $45 at the maximum price. With
the best of labor saving hay tools and
implements, supplemented with good