The Glenwood post., 1914-11-21
0UDAN 0RAA m
"W R0aAAB PI.ABS

AUU RoaAAB Plant
The new feraOe crop, sudan grass, is
demanding . great deal Of attention by
growers rs we'll as seieatifie men over
the western country. This grass was
introduced by the government from
Africa in 1909 snd since tlea has givea
better account Of itself than any new
crop Of recent introduction. In fae,,
the stories Of enormous yields are al
most beyond belief, yet from what we
have seen of the crop We believe that
they have not been exaggerated, at
least to any great extent.
sudan grass seems to be the missing
link between johnson grass and sor-
ghum. 1t is somewhat taller in growth
than johnson grass, not 30 tall rs Sor-
ghum, but much more heavy and sends
up more stems than either of these
crops. 1t is strictly an annual plant and
lacks the tendency to produce under
ground stems, that has made Johnsoa
grass SO unpopular in the south. 1t is
claimed by the promoters that Sudan
grass will make = heavy tonnage with
out irrigation, even in the dry plains
districts. This claim is partly substan-
tiated, for, while We know that NO crop
can grow without water, We find that
the feeding capacity Of Sudan grass
roots is such that they utilize plant
foods from considerable depth and make
heavy tonnage even where rainfall 10
light.
During the past season We have seen
several fields Of this srass in the plains
district come to maturity. One field in
particular, planted in April, in southern
oklahons, in drills 80 inches apart, was
covering the ground in June. Owing to
the high price and great demand fer ths
seed this field was left to predsee sssd
rather than to be cut fer hay. The
ground was cultivated q lo.g o. the
grass did not cover the ground 50 - TO
prevent working and the crop cut for
hay in the latter part Of July. A few
days ago, We saw this field ag.in Gov.
cred with Sudan grass ranging from six
to eight feet in height and nearly ready
for second cutting of seed. We have
no means of estimating the exact yield
of either forage or seed in this field at
the present time, yet we believe that
either crop would have cut at least two
tons of hay per acre-all of this growth
on an annual rainfall of about 80
inches.
When we take into consideration the
fact that the rainfall in this particular
district is light and the evaporation dur.
ing the whole year, winter and sum-
mer, is heavy-in fact, amounting to.
not less than 20 inches-we must give
this crop credit for great ability to
produce with comparatively little mois-
ture.
The government experiments have
shown this grass to be an excellent for
age crop. Although this has not been
demonstrated for many years, it has
been tested in nearly all parts of the
western plains states and also some
what in the irrigated sections of the
west. Yields of dry forage have been
secured running all the way from two
tons per acre a year in South Dakota,
without irrigation, to eight tons per
acre in New Mexico, under irrigated
conditions. The seed yields have also
been obtained, ranging from 400 pounds
per acre to better than a ton of clean
seed.
There is an element of danger in talk
ing up this new crop in that the grass
is so similar to johnson grass that it IS
difficult to tell the seed of the two spe
cies apart. The south at present is so
given over to johnson grass that it is
tain a certain amount of this objection
able grass. Consequently, there will be
danger from nearly all southern sources
of seed containing some johnson grass
of the johnson grass and the Sudan
grass grown in the south is the fact
that there is a probability of the mixing
of the johnson grass and the Suday
grass through Adjudication. Just what
this mixture will give us is yet to be
demonstrated.
Sudan grass seems to be, at present,
= variable product. In fact, in the
fields that We have visited, We could
easily pick out one hundred or more