hay per acre--double what we can get from cow peas
or soy beans. I believe kudzu is entitled to a fair trial by every
Florida cattleman.

Napier Grass.

You have doubtless seen some of the numerous references recently in
Florida papers to "Japanese bamboo grass" or "Carter's grass" as grown
about Arcadia. These names rest upon a misconception. The grass is a
native of South Africa, properly known as Napier grass, or _Pennisetum
macrostachyum_, introduced by the Department in 1913. This is a
perennial much like Japanese cane, and in our tests is found hardy as
far north as Charleston. It does well on rather poor soil and yields
heavy crops. In chemical analysis it is richer than corn in protein and
carbohydrates, but also contains three times as much fiber. It is this
high fiber content or woody character that makes me dubious about its
silage value, in which opinion Professor Rolfs concurs. When two or
three feet high it is greedily eaten by animals, and so may be a
pasturage possibility. As a green feed crop it could be cut three or
more times each season, when three or four feet high, and I am sure will
prove a very valuable forage for the man with one or two cows. Whether
it is a crop for the stockman is still doubtful.

In 1916 we introduced a very similar species, _Pennisetum merkeri_,
which is perhaps a little superior, though it is hard to tell the two
apart.

Metake.

The name "Japanese bamboo grass" leads me to mention a true Japanese
bamboo, the _metake_. This is a bamboo that spreads by rootstocks and
forms dense thickets ten to fifteen feet high, much like cane brake,
and, like our native cane, a valuable winter pasture plant. Mr. P. K.
Yonge has grown it with marked success about twenty miles north of
Pensacola. It seems to me a valuable plant to furnish a supply of
pasturage in winter, when pasturage is practically gone. It is worthy of
careful trial on all well-drained Florida soils.

Tripsacum Laxum.

Last year we secured from Guatemala a new perennial grass which, if it
proves winter hardy, will, I am certain, be of enormous value to South
Florida. This grass grows much like teosinte, but is stouter and very
much more leafy. The stem is tender, sweet and juicy, and all the leaves
remain green. It is an ideal silage plant. So far as I am aware, our
trial at Miami is the first time this grass has ever been cultivated.
The few live stock men who have seen it went into ecstasies. It may
pro