The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-07-13
SOUTHERN HAY CROP
SMALL IN AMOUNT
VARIETIES OF GRASSES THAT
GRAW WELL IN THIS PART
OF THE COUNTRY,

i ~ NhC A1lOSt I6CSuL uS vi
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture, 100000 tons of hay valued
at $17,626,000 are brought each year
INTO the eleven Southern states. In
other words, the South producesonly
lour-fifths of the hay that it con
sumes and imports the other one-fifth
This is a singular state of affairs for
great agricultural section and the
causes for it are analysed in a new
publication of the department, Farm
ers' Bulletin 677. st is practicable, -
says this bulletin, ''for the farmers
of the South to produce all the hay
that they need on their own farms =
| For the city markets, however, south
ern hays find it difficult to compete
with timothy, clover, or alfalfa, none
OF which have done we'll in the cotton
| belt except in limited areas. Another
| obstacle is the likelihood of rainy
weather interfering with the curing of
the crop.
These two obstacles, however. do
not alter the fact that, with suitable
SOIL conditions, growing hay in the
South for market should be a profit
/ able production. The heavy clay up
lands and the sandy soils along the
coast are not we'll suited for this Dur
pose, and the Department of Agricul
fure considers it doubtful whether it
IS advisable to attempt to produce
market hay on them. On the other
hand, bottom or alluvial land. If suf
f1ciently drained. are admirably adapt
ed for hay production, and if there is
good market for hay in the vicinity
VIII probably give as great a profit in
this way as in any other.
Granting that the soil is suitable.
another factor to be taken into con
sideration is the amount of land at
ones disposal. To produce market
hay economically requires special
equipment, the expense of which is so
considerable that it is doubtful wheth-
er farmer is justified in mourning it
unless he expects to have 20 acres
or more of hay to cut each wear. This
equipment includes a mower, rake.
tedder, wagon with frame. horse fork
pitchfork, and a hav press. The press
Or course, is not absolutely necessary
and, unless the farmer has 50 tons or
more to bale. it will probably be more
economical for him to pay for the bal
ing than to purchase the press. A
common method of overcoming this
hfliculty is for one farmer in a com
munlty to purchase a press and to
make business of baling hay for the
others.
Among the grasses and legumes that
make good market hays in the South |
are lespedeza in the lower Mississipp;
Valley; Johnson grass over most OF |
the cotton belt: Bermuda grass on the |
rich bottom lands: the Arlington mix
ture (orchard gras, tall oat grass. and |
on the heavy uplands Sudan
grass is also showing much promise.
IN considering the relative merits of
these market hays, it must be remem.
bered that each market is likely to
nave its own requirements which do
not always correspond to feeding val
les. There is also the question of
prejudice to be taken into considera-
ton.
This is particularly true of Johnson
grass which has suffered greatly on
The market from its bad reputation
as a weed. 1t is indeed doubtful
whether for this reason it should ever
be sown on land not already occupied
by it. It's merits in other respects,
however, have been thoroughly demon
Strated and on land already covered
by it, it may be cut with profit for
market hay. 1t is especially satisfac-
tory for horses in the city, many liv-
cry men considering it practically as
good as timothy for this purpose.
Bermuda grass is also well known
throughout the cotton region. AL
though used primarily for summer pas
-urage, it grows tall enough on rich
soil to cut for hay, and may be moved
or times a season. yielding an aver
age of about l ton per acre for each
Lespedeza does we'll with it
though, like the Bermuda grass. it
frequently does not grow tall enough to
cut for hay About 10 per cent of the
commercial hay sold in New Orleans
IS lespedeZa.
The Arlington mixture, which con-
sists of 10 pounds Of orchard grass, 20
pounds tall oat grass, and 4 pounds
alsike for every acre, is not so well
known as the crops already mentioned
In experiments on the Government
iarm at Arlington, Virginia, it has