Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-01-06
SUDAN GRASS
GIVES BIG PROFIT
ONE FARMER REPORTS THREE
CUTTINGS LAST SEASON
SEED PRICE HIGH
Demand Far Exceeds Supply; Acre
age Comparatively Small

Kansas has a new cro9, Sular
grass, which IS producin1 some amaz
Ing yields and profits. on 'ho fIu
Ct Harmon Hobart. in Allen county
il gave three cuttings last seaso"
with total yield of IS tons Of has
The part Of the field that was left tot
seed average ISL pounds an acre TA
seed OF this grass IS selling for 81 d
pound; the reason FOR this ahn0rma
price OF course Is that there Is =
demand for the seed, which is much
larger than the limited acreage q
last year can supply, says Floyd B
Nichols in the Illustrated World.
Sudan grass is an annual crop
which is planted in rows usually. and
cultivated two or three times during
the season. When II IS handled l1
this way il requires from two 20 three
pounds 10 plant an acre Il may he
cut several times for hay, or q seed
crop and also a hay crop can be Oh
tanned At the present high prices.
the most profit Is in the seed OF
course.
The astonishing drouth resisting
ability Of Sudan grass is the main
thing that gives II value.
II resists a drouth much more read
lily than the standard crops for tie
Grier regions such as kaf.r, milo and
fetorita. Sudan grass is l~ng pushed
by the demonstration agents and tx
tension men for the Kansas State Az
ricultural college Lee II. Gould. the
demon tratIng agent for southwestern
Kansas where the rainfall IS very I'm.
tied said:
There IS certain to be an immense
Increase In the acreage Of Sudan crGs-
IN this section within the next few
years We had paintings Of this crop
in every county district IN 1914, and
they all did well The crop makes
good feed, and it will produce high
yields with very limited rainfall L
will do much in the coming years to
add wealth to the drler sections I'm tha
western part Of the United States"
Mr. Goulfs opinion IS the same a
that of the other demonstrating
agents in Kansas There Is more IN.
terest among the farmers in Sudan
grass than in any other crop
Sudan grass was imported into this
country from Africa. and was grown
in a small way in an experiment sta.
tion in Texas L produced good re.
suits IN these station trials from the
start but of course the agents Of the
United States department OF agr!cul
ture did not nut the seed out TO II"
farmc~8 until they We're sure Of their
results The seed was quite gener
ally dlstribut- over the country last
season.
Although this crop Is q valuable sub
stitute for the Bermuda grasses, and
should be introduced wherever farm
ers find their soil too dry for the la.
ter, one OF its characteristics should
hn we'll borne In mind before planting
This Is the fact lat once given
start, It spreads with great raDiditv.
Each spear Of grass possesses a net.
work Of tough, fibroCs roots, which
spread over a radius Of foot. Each fl
t,r IS sermented, and from each se,r
mont another blade Of grass may
spring up. In the Southern statos.
Johnson grass, which Is similar To
Sudan grass, has proved itself the
most formidable pest with which cot
ton growers have to contend. because
Of the thick root network, it is next
TO impossible to stop once it has 90
into a field