The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1915-01-01
Sudan Grass

For thirty-fye years the farmers
on the dry lands of the Southwest
have been looking for plant that
could be depended on every year,
dry or wet, for making good hay
They have found it in Sudan grass.
Sudan grass has been grown on the
dry lands in the Panhandle of Texas
for six years. In the driest years it
has yielded ton of hay per acre
and in good years four cuttings OF
hay in single season, one ton per
acre at each cutting. On the dry
lands of Colorado and New Mexico
it has given good yields up to alti-
tudes of $500 feet. In western Ok
lahoma and western Kansas the re-
turns have been as satisfactory as
in Texas.
The cotton growers in thirteen
states have been badly in need of a
good annual hay plant, Most of
them buy hay for their teams. Cot
ton farms are operated largely by
tenants, most of whom move fire.
quently. For this reason, each ten
ant II he has any hay must SOW the
seed himself. Sudan grass meets
fully the requirements of the south
ern farmer. 1t makes good hay for
horses, mules and cattle. 1t will
yield three to four crops of hay dur
ing the season, where the seed is
sown in the spring as soon as the
ground IS warm. Good yields are
reported in Arkansas, Louisiana and
in eastern and central Texas. While
Sudan grass is one of the best
drouth resisting plants, the more it
rains the more it yields. An acre
will furnish an ample supply of hay
for work animal for twelve months
Sudan grass should be planted in
rows thirty to thirty-siX inches apart,
dropping single seeds six to eight
inches apart in the row. 1t should
be given shallow cultivation unti
it shades the ground. The largest
yields for the season are secured
when each crop is cut as soon as the
plants come in bloom. In the Texas
Panhandle, this year, the second crcp
was ready to cut thirty-five days
after the first crop was harvested.
The best quality of hay is secured
by cutting the plants while they are
in full bloom. 1t may be cut with
mower or scythe and cured in large
cocks or cut with a grain binder and
the bundles cured in shocks like
wheat.
The serious drawback to the gen.
eral planting of Sudan grass in 1915
the high price of seed.
Last spring seed cost 50 pound
this fall it is being offered for 81 a
pound. In 1916 it will probably sell
as low as millet seed There were
$4,000 to $4,000 acres of Sudan
grass grown in the Southwest IN
1914. Practically all of it was grown
for seed. The yield of seed varied
from 800 to 1000 pounds per acre.
Sufficient seed was probably grown
IN 1914 to seed between three an |
mil iC
cradle seed in Colorado; Kansas pro-
duced all the seed her farmers need
for next springs planting. Okla
homa will probably have nearly !
enough home grown seed to supply /
her needs and there is a large sur
plus in Texas.
There is one danger in buying SUI
dan grass seed. 1t may be mixed |
with that pest of the South, John
son grass. Pure Johnson grass seed !
may be furnished when that of ST.
dan grass is ordered. Experts can
not tell the seeds apart. The only
safe way is to buy Sudan grass seed |
grown in those districts so far north |
that they have no Johnson grass or
buy from honest Southern growers I
who will guarantee that it contains
no Johnson grass and whose guaran-
tee is safe.
H. NJ. COTTRELL,
Agricultural Commissioner, Rock Is