Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-08
AF 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 as
universally a 8 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 10 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
stin being conducted on Tunis grass.
Value Apparent From First.
Tn 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
/ iority OF these showed little or no
| promise for our conditions, there
we're 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
| a place among our cultivated crops.
but one species especially seems ike
| ly to produce a material change in
the agriculture Of the region to
which 1t is adapted
while not closely related botani-
cally and differing materially in i'm
portant characterizations. Rhodes
grass and Sudan grass have proved
almost equally promising In the pre-
| liminary 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 first cultivated
! by Cecil Rhodes az Cape Town. about
1895. II was tested in Australia in
1911 and 1912. Out Of as reports re-
Gently received from :He tests, q
! were enthusiastically favorable, Is
We're favorable and only Z unfavora-
| 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
nishes a profitable yield. is palatabla
and Of good color. and has good seed
| habits.
While there has not been sufficient
! experience in the feeding Of Rhodes
] grass hay la 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 IL on q
| small scale that IL is equal to any
/ Of the grass hays. Its chemical analy-
1 sis points 10 a high nutritive value.
and its aroma and palatahility are
4 such as to make II 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 81 frequently produces two
I or more cuttings per seaso exceeding
IIla tons each. There are authentic
! reports Of total Yields per season If
/ s tons per acre OF well cured hay
secured from three cuttings the first
cutting being made In May, the sec
ond in July, and the third in Septem-
/ Der At the present market price u
I hay in the South it can be easily
seen that such yields are very profit
Z able"
Cannot Stand Cold Weather
/ The one drawback with Rhodes
| grass is that in its present state Of
/ development il cannot stand weather
I colder than 20 degrees. but the Gov
. eminent scientists expect to work out
a method whereby the grass will be
handled in a manner to reseed itself.
SO that II can ne grown IN states
. Wen up into the North.
sudan grass. however, is not limited
i'm its area by temperature, and n
many respects is a more important
. discovery than Rhodes grass. Tests
7 have been made at Arlington Farm,
. Va. Il was obtained from khartum.
I Sudan. in 1909.
This grass is easily cured and cas-
lis handled as hay and IS very
/ drought resistant. The yield Of hay
and seed can as vet be only roughly
Appropriated. In vast majority OF
. the cases reported the yield Of hay
has been unusually high and that II
seed entirely satisfactory.
sudan grass already needs no ex-
pIoitatiou" says Mr. Oakley. and il
hardly seems likely that anything
will develop 10 detract from It's pop
ularitv or 70 lessen its usefulness.
Numerous representatives of It's
. group tthe surEhumsl 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 OF a bright
49, sa-ar7re entirely