Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


silages and Natal grass hay. A summary of similar data for
dried grapefruit and orange cannery refuses (9)1, two other
new feeds, will be included in the discussion.

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 The Forage Crops Office of the Bureau of Plant Industry,
United States Department of Agriculture, has made a practice
of introducing plants that may be adapted to various parts of
this country. Florida has received many of these introductions.
Often these plants have not been cultivated previous to their
introduction, and therefore must be tested thoroughly before
they can be recommended for general use as feeds.
 Among the points to be considered in the study of such new
crops are: their adaptation to soil and climate, resistance to
disease and pests, growth habits, yields, facility of production
and handling, methods of utilization, manner of preservation
depending on use, palatability to.livestock, possible toxicity,
composition, digestibility of the nutrients, and value of the
nutrients for productive purposes. The particular problems
undertaken in these studies were the determinations of the di-
gestible nutrients of Napier grass silage, C. intermedia silage
and Natal grass hay.
 Descriptions2 of the crops follow:
 Napier grass.-Pennisetum purpureum Schum. This species is native
to tropical Africa and was introduced into this country in 1913 by the
United States Department of Agriculture. It is a rank growing, cane-
like, non-saccharine perennial grass, developing clumps with many coarse,
leafy stalks. These stalks, as they approach maturity, branch from the
upper joints, sending up a fine, erect stem which bears a terminal seed-
spike. The seedspike is yellow when mature.
 The usual method of propagation is by planting crown divisions, although
it may be done by means of seeds, canes, or mature joints. Plants are
spaced 18 to 24 inches apart in six-foot rows. Soils adapted to corn or
Japanese cane are suitable for this crop. The more fertile soils will produce
the heavier yields. This plant has a reputation for drouth resistance.
 Napier grass has been recommended for a soiling crop, in which case
several cuttings can be made each season. When used as silage, the practice
has been to allow it to become more mature when yields of ten tons or more
per acre may be expected.

 IFigures in parentheses (Italic) refer to "Literature Cited" in the back
of this bulletin.
 2 Descriptions of Napier and Natal grasses are taken mainly from
Thompson (10), and of C. intermedia from McKee and Enlow (6).