Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-08
AFRICAN GRASS
SEEN AS MONEY
CROP Of SOUTH
Department of Agriculture tx
pert Believes Its Culture Will
Add Millions to Revenue.

/ Souln Wnlch VIII add millions TO the
| revenue Of the farmers Of Georgia
and nearby states. If cultivated as
! universally as they deserve, are an
nounced by the Department Of Agri-
culture in report prepared by r. A.
! Oakley, agronomist in the office OF
Forage Crop Investigation of the Blu
reau Of Plant Industry.
\ world wide search has been con-
Quoted for hay crops adapted to the
South, and two species of grass have
been emphatically approved, while a
| third appears TO be thoroughly salts
| factory. The three varieties were
! discovered in Africa. The two which
meet with the Apr val of the gov
eminent experts are Rhodes grass and
Sudan grass, while experiments are
still being conducted on Tunis grass.
Value Apparent From First.
In the course of its work the
Department of Agriculture has intro
,duced a large number of species and
varieties Of true grasses; and while
as might be expected, a great ma
| jority of these showed little or no
promise for our conditions, there
were some whose value was apparent
almost from the first" says the Oak
ley report.
Though always interesting, it is
rarely the case that the introduction
and testing Of new crops result in the
spectacular Among the grasses that
l have been received within the past
few years, however. are species that
1 promise to be exceptions TO the rule,
Not only are they practically assured
place among our cultivated crops.
but one species especially seems like
| ly to produce a material change in
the agriculture Of the region to
which it is adapted.
While not closely related botani-
cally, and differing materially in i'm
portant Characterization, Rhodes
grass and Sudan grass have proved
almost equally promising in the pre-
| lminary tests in the sections TO which
| they are apparently adapted, and are
almost certain to become staple hay
crops within a comparatively short
time"
| Rhodes grass was Erst cultivated
| by Cecil Rhodes at Cape Town, about
/ lS95. II was tested in Australia in
1911 and 1912. out Of AZ reports re-
/ Gently received from :ae tests. p
were enthusiastically favorable. II
were favorable. ana only unfavora-
I BILE. In almost every case where fall
ure was reported the cause was read 10
lily apparent In many cases the re-
ports read almost like fiction" says
| Mr. Oakley.
Florida Orders Supply.
At the present time farmers in
Florida who have tried out Rhodes
grass are placing with Australian
seedsmen orders far in excess Of the
supply.
Rhodes grass is aggressive. fur
nlshes a profitable yield. is palatable
and Of good color. and has good seed
habits
while there has not been sufficient
experience in the feeding of Rhodes
grass hay a. this country 10 make a
definite statement regarding its
feeding value" says Mr. Oakley,
there remains little doubt in the
minds Of those who have fed il on q
small scale that IL is equal TO any
Of the grass hays. Its chemical analy-
sis points 20 a high nutritiye value,
and its aroma and palatability are
such as 10 make it readily eaten by
stock The yield afforded by Rhodes
grass is one Of its strong points In
/ 81 than "A
up 10 expectations Even on poor,
sandy soils II frequently produces two
or more cuttings per season exceeding
Ia tons each. There are authentic
reports Of total yields per season Of
tons per acre Of well cured hay
secured from three cuttings the first
cutting being made IN May, the rac-
ond in July, and the third in Septem-
Der At the present market price 0f
hay in the South II can be easily
seen that such yields are very profit
able"
Cannot Stand Cold Weather.
The one drawback with Rhodes
grass is that in it's present state of
development IL cannot stand weather
colder than 90 degrees. but the Gov
a method whereby the grass will be-
handled IN a manner 10 reseed itself
so that il can be grown In states
we'll up into the North,
sudan grass, however, Is not limited
in its area by temperature and N
many respects is a more important
discovery than Rhodes grass. Tests
have been made al Arlington Farm.
Va. II was obtained from Khartum
Sudan. In 1908.
This grass is easily cured and cas-
fy handled as hay and Is very
drought resistant. The yield OF h5y
and seed can as yet be- only roughly
approx. mated. In a vast majority OF
the cases reported the yield of hay
has been unusually high and that OF
seed entirely satisfactory.
sudan grass already needs no eN-
pl0itatiOn." says Mr.. oakley and 10
hardly seems likely that anything
will develop to detract from IT'S pop
ularlty or 90 lessen its usefulness
Numerous representa- Of Its
group Ohe sorghumsl are now, and
have been for a long time. important
forage crops in this country Taking
this into consideration. together with
the wonderful. showing SUDAN grass
has made. the predicting ~ bright
future for % seems entirely justified.
RIVER TAKES AWAY FARM;
NOW OWNER RENTS LAND