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


/ tant additions to the crops of the
South which will add millions to the
revenue Of the farmers of Georgia
and nearby states, if cultivated ds
/ universally as they deserve, are an
nounced by the Department of Agri-
/ culture in "A report prepared by r. A.
/ Oakley, agronomist in the office of
Forage Crop Investigation of the Blu
reau of Plant Industry.
| A 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 approval 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
have been received within the past
| few years, however, are species that
promise to be exceptions TO the rule.
[ Not only are they practically assured
place among our cultivated crops.
but one species especially seems like
/ IL 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-
Iliminary tests in the sections to which
they are apparently adapted, and are
almost certain to become staple hay
/ crops within comparatively short
| time"
Rhodes grass was first cultivated
by Cecil Rhodes at Cape Town, about
1895. 1t was tested in Australia in
1911 and 1912. out of as reports re-
Gently received from the tests, u
were enthusiastically favorable. 10
were favorable, and only unfavord-
BILE In almost every case where fail
ure was reported the cause was read
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
Inishes a profitable yield. is palaJable
land of good color, and has good seed
habits.
While there has not been sufficient
Experience in the feeding of Rhodes
grass hay in this country TO make a
definite statement regarding its
feeding value" says Mr.. Oakley,
there remains little doubt in the
minds Of those who have fed it on =
small scale that il is equal TO any
.of the grass hays. Its chemical analy-
sis points to a high nutritive value,
and its aroma and palatability are
such as to make it readily eaten by
stock The yield afforded by Rhodes
/ grass is one Of its strong points. In
this respect IL has more than come
up to expectations. Even on poor
sandy soils il frequently produces TWO
or more cuttings per season exceeding
.lls tons each. There are authentic
reports of total yields per season Of
6 tons per acre Of well cured nay
secured from three cuttings. the first
cutting being made In May. the seq
ond in July. and the third in Septem-
Der. At the present market price Of
hay in the South it can be easily
seen that such yields are very profit
able"
Cannot Stand Cold Weather.
The one drawback with Rhodes
grass is that in its present state Of
development it cannot stand weather
colder than 20 degrees but the Gov
eminent scientists expect TO work ou'
IA method whereby the grass viii bg
handled in a manner 10 reseed itself
So that il can be grown in states
well up into the North.
Sudan grass. however, is not limited
+ i'm its area by temperature. and q
many respects Is a more Important
discovery than Rhodes grass Tests
have been made at Arlington Farm
F Va. Il was obtained from hhartum
sudan in 1909.
This grass is easily cured and cas-
lilly handled as hay. and = VerF
drought resistant. The yield If has
and seed can as yet be only roughly
EarproNimateG. In "A vast majority a
I .he cases reported the yield Of hay
+ has been unusually high and that OF
seed entirely satisfactory
Cd rHa. lao -