16 Farmers' Bulletin 1126.
gives the best results only when fed in connection with other forage. It should not be used as the sole roughage in rationing any kind of farm animals.
SOILING AND SILAGE.
Sudan grass is admirably suited for use as a soiling crop, since it makes a large yield and is very palatable in the green state. By this method of feeding, a small area in the South, where the rainfall is adequate or where irrigation is possible, can be made to support a goodly number of animals. Large yields are secured under irriga- tion, because the growth is so rapid and the recovery from cutting so prompt.
The use of Sudan grass for silage will no doubt be limited, owing to the ease with which it can be made into hay, to the fact that there is but little waste in feeding it as hay, and to the larger silage yields of the sorghums and corn. The Oklahoma experiment station5 has conducted some experiments with Sudan grass silage. A consider- able number of analyses were made which showed that Sudan grass silage was about the same in chemical composition as corn silage. Sheep did not relish the silage as well as they did corn silage, but they liked it equally as well as they did the silage made from grain sorghums.
Mixtures of Sudan grass with cowpeas or, soy beans can be grown for silage in humid regions. Such mixture makes a bright-colored, palatable silage of high feeding value.
PASTURE.
Sudan grass has attained popularity as a summer pasture crop. In regions of low rainfall and high temperatures, its carrying capac-
ity during the hot summer months is superior to that of any other grass or legume. On the experimental farm at Dodge City, Kans., in the summer of 1914 a herd of milk cows was pastured alternately on Sudan grass and on native grasses. The Sudan grass furnished abundant pasturage at the rate of one cow per acre for 125 days and the cows made a daily average of 3.8 pounds more milk per cow on the Sudan grass than on the native grasses.
In 1915, at Chillicothe, Tex., mules, horses, and cows allowed the run of a field containing equal areas of Amber sorgo, Golden millet,, and Sudan grass all showed a decided preference for the Sudan grass.. At the Arizona experiment farm near Prescott, Ariz., Sudan grass without irrigation maintained 20 sheep per acre continuously for 100 days. The sheep pastured on Sudan grass fattened, while those grazing Amber sorgo made only ordinary growth. The California experiment station pastured a nonirrigated field of Sudan grass with
B Francis, C. K., and Friedemann, W. G. Okla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 115, 8 p. 1917.