(_Address delivered before the Florida State Live Stock
Association, January 9, 1918, by Prof. C. V. Piper,
Agrostologist, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C._)
For many years I have been interested in the problem of more and better
forage for the South, because it has long been evident to students of
agriculture that sooner or later there would be an important live stock
industry developed in the South. The present greatly increased interest
of Florida, and, indeed, of the entire South, marks, I believe, the
beginning of this epoch. Several economic incentives have conspired to
bring about the present active interest and development. Chief among
them, perhaps, were: First, changes necessitated by the spread of the
cotton boll weevil; and, second, the present high range of prices for
live stock--prices that in all probability will be little, if any,
reduced for many years to come.
Another incentive that must, however, be recognized was the desire of
enterprising men to develop the latent resources of the South, not only
as an attest of their economic faith, but also from the patriotic motive
of helping the nation in this period of stress.
As an indication of the extent of this movement I may state that within
the past two years over thirty extensive live stock enterprises have
been launched, all in the piney woods region of the Southern States.
Most of these companies have ample capital, and most of them are
proceeding along conservative lines.
The future development and prosperity of this industry must rest upon a
thorough knowledge and proper utilization of the forage crops adapted to
the region. In very large measure these forages are quite different from
those used in the portions of the United States where animal husbandry
is most developed. From a practical standpoint we cannot use in the
South the forages of the North and West, with the important exception of
corn. The other great forages--timothy, red clover, alfalfa, blue grass
and white clover--can never become important in Florida. This fact needs
emphasis, because the newcomer in Florida is often carried away with the
idea that these forages may be made to succeed.
In the beginning of this active live stock development it is unfortunate
that there is not a larger body of exact data concerning both the
culture and feeding value of the more important forages available. There
is a large amount of such information concerning corn, timothy, red
clover, alfalfa, blue grass and white clover, not only in America, but
also in Europe. Furthermore, countless live stock farms exist where the
practical utilization of these forages has been worked out in detail. In
comparison, our stock of knowledge concerning Southern forages, both
from experimental investigations and from practical experience, is
relatively small. This is not surprising, because the experiment
stations have very properly been compelled to devote their energies
mainly to assisting agricultural industries in proportion to their
existing importance, rather than to industries in which there was
relatively little interest. In this matter of Southern forages I have
long advocated much more generous support on the part of the State and
Federal agricultural agencies, because I have great faith in the future
possibilities.
With the magnificent start that has now been made in live stock farming
in the South, we may hope for much more generous support to live stock
and forage investigations, but this hope will be realized only if we are
insistent in our demands. The knowledge thus to be obtained is
fundamental, and the progress that is made in live stock raising will be
conditioned in an important measure on the accurate investigations that
can be conducted only at properly equipped experiment stations.
One other angle of these general considerations must not be overlooked.
The northern or western man who may be considering developing a live
stock ranch in the South naturally wants to see developed ranches in
which the practical problems have been worked out. In all the South
there are very few cattle ranches which have reached a finished state of
development--where the concrete demonstration exists of a type of
management that can be duplicated.
Now, of course, I am fully aware that Florida and all the South has long
had an extensive cattle industry based on the natural grasses of the
prairies and of the piney woods. In general, this has been a profitable
industry, especially on free range. Without hurting anyone's feelings,
we will, I think, agree that this has not been a very high grade of live
stock ranching. Indeed, the ordinary Northern or Western man, who is, of
course, a superficial observer, has gotten the idea from the scrub
cattle and razorback hogs that he saw, that there is something in the
South that is inimical to good live stock. Usually he has decided it is
the climate. Fortunately we know from the work of every Southern
experiment station, as well as of a few good live stock ranches, that
the South can raise just as good cattle and hogs as the North. It isn't
a matter of climate, at all, but purely one of _breed_ and _feed_.
I have spoken thus candidly because I feel that I am a friend among
friends, and because I have very much faith in the industry you
represent. If I were not so optimistic as to the future of the live
stock industry in Florida I should be afraid to lay bare any weak
factors that exist. I believe with Huxley in the wisdom of facing
things as they are, rather than indulging in make believe.
Perhaps it will be most helpful in discussing the forages adapted to
Florida to proceed from the viewpoint of the man starting a cattle
ranch. The basis, of course, of any profitable cattle ranch is permanent
pasturage, the cheapest of all feeds, and, to supplement this, a supply
of feed, which may be hay, ensilage, or in Southern Florida, green feed,
to bridge over the season of short pastures. If one is to produce highly
finished beef, grain feeds and other concentrates must be raised or
purchased.
In discussing pasturage it will be convenient to recognize three types
of lands, namely, piney woods, prairie, and mucks, realizing, of course,
that this is a very rough classification.
Piney Woods Lands.
In the piney woods the natural pasturage is composed mainly of broom
sedge and wire grasses. During the growing season, from spring till late
fall, these grasses furnish fair pasturage, but through the rest of the
year they merely enable animals to exist. What can be done towards
converting these poor native pastures into good permanent pastures?
There are three possibilities in the light of our present knowledge. On
better soils good Bermuda pastures can be developed, or where the lands
are moist, as on most flatwood areas, carpet grass may be used. On the
drier and poorer soils, Natal grass is the only one that has given much
success.
How can Bermuda or carpet grass pasture best be established? The sure
method is to stump your land and plow it, and then plant the Bermuda by
the vegetative method in spring, or any time thereafter in summer,
during the rainy season. At the McNeill station in Mississippi, located
on land much like that of the northern tier of counties in Florida, they
have developed the following method: Plow furrows about ten feet apart
between the stumps in spring, and stick in a root or sprig of Bermuda
about every ten feet. At McNeill it is found necessary to use a little
fertilizer to insure the growth of these Bermuda plants. During the
following winter the stumps are removed, and then in spring the land is
plowed and Lespedeza seed sown. Enough Bermuda has grown in the furrows
to insure a stand of Bermuda, and this is supplemented by the Lespedeza.
Indeed, the first season the Lespedeza will furnish more pasturage than
the Bermuda. Lespedeza is rather a tricky plant in Florida and is hardly
worth consideration except in the northern part of the State.
On most of the Florida flatwood soils carpet grass is much more
aggressive than Bermuda, and in time will, if left alone, completely
replace the Bermuda. To a large extent this can be obviated by plowing
the pastures whenever the carpet grass seems to be obtaining the upper
hand. Unfortunately, we do not know the relative values of equal areas
of Bermuda grass and of carpet grass where the latter is most
aggressive. Carpet grass does not grow so tall, but is green for a
longer period. It may, indeed, be found more economical not to try to
save the Bermuda after the carpet grass crowds it. From observations, I
am inclined to believe that neither the carrying capacity nor the feed
values per acre of the two grasses is greatly different on most flatwood
soils. If this be true, it would not be economy to go to any particular
trouble to retain the Bermuda instead of the carpet grass.
At McNeill the pasturage on areas that have long been closely grazed is
carpet grass. Unfortunately, no experiments have been conducted to
compare these two grasses as to ease of establishment and as to carrying
capacity. Carpet grass produces abundant good seed, and therefore
spreads much more rapidly than Bermuda, which rarely produces seed in
humid regions.
It is found necessary to remove the stumps at McNeill, because for the
first year or two on the plowed ground, weeds, especially "fennel" or
"Yankee weed," appear abundantly, and must be mowed or they will kill
the grasses by shading. Mowing with the stumps on the land is
impracticable, as the weeds conceal many of the stumps.
Whether it is practicable to establish good permanent pastures without
stumping and plowing the land is yet an unsolved problem. About every
Florida settlement where the town cattle graze, there is good pasture,
commonly carpet grass. You will find just this on the outskirts of
Jacksonville. Such pasturage has been established by heavy continuous
grazing, under which conditions the broom sedge and wire grass are
exterminated, while the creeping carpet grass comes in and persists. It
may be that the manure of the animals is also a factor, and there can
scarcely be a question that the trampling helps. As an example of this
kind occurs about nearly every Florida town, it would seem as if it
could be duplicated on cattle ranches. I have suggested to several
cattlemen that it is worth trying on a scale by three methods: (1)
Simply burning the native grass in winter; (2) burning, followed by
disking or harrowing; and (3) plowing among the stumps.
If possible, carpet grass seed should be scattered on each area, and in
all cases close grazing should be practiced. Unfortunately, carpet grass
seed cannot be secured commercially, except in small quantities at high
prices, but it is easy to cut the mature carpet grass in fall from a
pasture and cure the hay. The carpet grass can then be sown simply by
scattering the hay. Whether any of these schemes will work out
satisfactorily still remains to be determined.
As to Natal grass, I have already mentioned that this succeeds better on
the poorer and drier pine lands than any other grass yet introduced.
Thus far it has been exploited purely as a grass for market hay. On this
basis many hundred acres were planted in Lake County and elsewhere.
Grass culture purely for market hay is a very precarious proposition.
The proper agricultural economy is grass for live stock, selling only
the surplus to the market. Notwithstanding the very large acreage
planted to Natal, I have been quite unable to secure satisfactory data
as to its value for pasturage, measured in carrying capacity and
satisfactory gains. It seems to me, from the slender data I have been
able to secure, fairly probable that Natal will prove a valuable grass
for combined hay and pasture on the soils to which it is so well
adapted, but of course it can hardly be expected to yield enough to
justify the extravagant prices paid for land planted to Natal.
Prairie Lands.
On the prairies of Florida there is much better natural pasturage than
in the piney woods, and, indeed, it is on the prairies that the old type
of cattle industry reached its highest development. The prairies are in
reality wet meadows. Their grass cover is due to water relations, most
of them being periodically overflowed--conditions that are inimical to
pines and palmettos. On the other hand, the period of overflow is too
brief to meet the conditions necessary for cypress and other swamp
trees. These prairies stretch from the border of the pine woods and
palmettos on relatively high ground to permanently wet swamps. The best
natural pasturage consists of various species of paspalum and related
flat-leaved grasses on the soils fairly moist during a large part of the
year; and maiden cane on still moister land, or even in shallow water.
Generally speaking, the moisture relations of the more extensive
prairies are nearly ideal for continuous pasturage in the varying
seasons. There is grave danger in any extensive drainage operations, as
palmettos and pines will quickly invade such drained land, and thus
destroy the grass.
For improved pasture on these lands, particularly on those reasonably
moist, Para grass offers great possibilities. The remarkably rapid
growth and high yield of this grass, combined with its palatability and
nutritiousness, make it of prime importance in connection with better
live stock. Para succeeds well also on the better uplands, but,
generally speaking, it is a grass for moist lands. The farther south,
the more valuable it is, as after frost it is of little value.
Another grass that is likely to be very valuable on the prairies, and,
indeed, on the flatwoods and better uplands, is _paspalum dilatatum_,
native to Argentina. This is perhaps the best of the paspalums, and it
is now widespread in the Southern States. Unfortunately, with us the
seeds are largely destroyed by a fungus, but good commercial seed is
obtainable in quantity from Australia.
Muck Lands.
On the muck lands the problem of pasturage is easy. At least four
grasses, namely, Para, Carib, Rhodes and Bermuda, especially Giant
Bermuda, yield wonderfully. The enormous area of muck lands in Florida,
especially in the Everglades, can, it would seem, be utilized only with
the aid of livestock. While there may be some fairly difficult problems
to solve in handling live stock on muck soils, especially in the wet
season, there can be little doubt that grass and live stock will insure
the permanency of these lands. Under continuous cultivation there is a
constant shrinkage in muck soils, but with grass and live stock this is
nearly, if not quite, counterbalanced.
Carib grass on muck soils is, from limited data, superior to Para grass
both in yield and quality. On other types of soil Para will outyield
Carib. Rhodes grass does wonderfully on muck soil, and, indeed, on most
rich soils. Giant Bermuda is far coarser and more vigorous than ordinary
Bermuda. It will succeed wherever ordinary Bermuda will grow, and, in
addition, seems much better able to withstand flooding.
Temporary or annual pasture crops are mainly important in connection
with swine raising. Various systems of such crops have been devised to
furnish successive pastures. Florida has a long list of such crops that
can be utilized. Among them are oats, rye, rape, sorghum, peanuts, cow
peas, chufas, sweet potatoes, corn and velvet beans. Under certain
conditions the cattleman may have to utilize one or more of these crops,
but corn and velvet beans is the one that is the most important.
The story of the velvet bean is really one of the romances of
agriculture. Introduced into Florida about 1875 from some unknown
source, it first attracted attention as a forage about 1890. Until 1914
it was but little grown outside of Florida. In 1915 the crop was
certainly less than 1,000,000 acres. In 1916 it had increased to
2,500,000, and in 1917 to about 6,000,000 acres. The explanation of this
remarkable increase was the finding of earlier "sports." Three of these
appeared independently--one in Alabama, two in Georgia. These early
varieties immensely increased the area over which the velvet bean can be
grown, so that now it embraces practically all of the cotton belt. These
early sports of the old Florida are most grown, but the Chinese velvet
bean, introduced by the Department, and the hybrids developed by the
Florida Experiment Station, are important. In spite of vigorous search,
the native home of the Florida velvet bean yet remains unknown, but it
is probably in the Indo-Malayan region of Southern Asia.
The importance of the velvet bean to the live stock industry now
developing in the South can scarcely be over-estimated. Grown with corn,
it increases the corn crop year after year, and besides furnishes a
large amount of nutritious feed to be eaten by the animals when the
grass pasture season is over. It reduces greatly the cost of finishing
of beef animals for market. This year the velvet bean has been no small
factor in helping out the great shortage of foodstuffs, quantities of
them having been shipped to Texas. Finally, it has resulted in a new
industry for the South, namely, the manufacture of velvet bean meal,
which has already won for itself a large demand.
Hay Plants.
The problem of producing hay in Florida is made particularly difficult
by frequent rains, except in the fall of the year. The bulk of the hay
now produced is from the crab grass that volunteers in cultivated
fields. In recent years much Natal hay has been grown for market. Para
grass hay is of good quality, and Rhodes grass of very fine quality.
Other hays are made from cow peas, cow peas and sorghum mixed, Mexican
clover, beggar-weed, oats, millet, etc.
The subject of hay, however, is vital only to the city market. To the
live stock man it is of minor importance, as silage furnishes so
satisfactory a substitute.
Ensilage Crops.
Corn is, of course, the standard crop for ensilage, and its relative
importance in Florida is not far different from that in other States.
Under certain conditions sorghums will yield greater tonnage than corn,
and the resulting silage is but slightly inferior.
Florida possesses, in addition, a unique silage plant in Japanese sugar
cane. The perennial nature of this plant and its high yielding capacity
make it a cheap fodder to grow. It may be utilized as green feed, as
silage, as dry fodder, or for pasture. Your own experiment station has
published the best information we have on this forage. As a feed for
dairy cows there can be no question of its high value, either green or
as silage. There still seems to be question, however, as to the relative
value of Japanese cane silage as compared with corn silage. In Southern
Florida the cane stays green all winter, as a rule, so that there is no
necessity for ensiling it for winter feed. It may well prove, however,
that a supply of Japanese cane silage will prove good insurance against
periods of shortage even in South Florida.
You may have noted that all the pasture plants I have mentioned are
grasses. Very unfortunately we have not as yet any good perennial
pasture legume adapted to Florida. I say "unfortunately" because, as is
well known, the true grasses are nutritious in proportion to the
fertility of the land. That is, the better the land the more nutritious
the pasture. But with legumes no such relations exist, because legumes
are not dependent on the soil for their nitrogen supply.
While we have no satisfactory perennial pasture legume, we have one
summer annual, lespedeza, that helps to some extent in North Florida.
There are also two winter annuals that reproduce themselves in which I
have considerable confidence, namely, burr clover and narrow-leaf vetch.
I believe that on many of the better pasture soils, especially in North
Florida, that these legumes can be established and that they will
re-seed themselves year after year. Of course due care must be taken to
secure inoculation, preferably by the soil method.
The Outlook for New Forages.
What the future may hold in store for us in the way of new forages does
not assist at the present time, but it is worth considering. It is well
to bear in mind that the agriculture of the North, with the single
important exception of corn, is mainly a direct inheritance from
European agriculture. Substitute root crops for corn and you have in
essence the European practice. Southern agriculture, on the contrary, is
almost purely an American development--cotton, corn, tobacco, sweet
potatoes, from the American Indian; cow peas, Rhodes grass, Natal grass
and sorghum from South Africa; soy beans, lespedeza, Japanese cane from
Japan; carpet grass and Para grass from the West Indies; Bermuda from
India; velvet beans from Southern Asia.
Northern forage plants have been pretty thoroughly studied both in
Europe and America, because European conditions are fairly like those of
our Northern States. But there yet remains hosts of grasses and legumes
adapted to sub-tropical climates concerning which we know practically
nothing.
Out of very numerous grasses and legumes at present under test are
several that possess promise, and these I shall discuss briefly.
Kudzu.
Kudzu is not particularly new, but it seems to me destined to a much
greater importance than at present. It is the only perennial forage
legume that has in any sense made good in Florida. It is much better
adapted to clayey soils than to sandy soils, but it also succeeds
remarkably well on the limestone soils about Miami. On the better sandy
soils it would also seem to be valuable, but on the poorer sandy soils
and poorly drained lands it is doubtful if it has a place. On clay soils
at Arlington Farm, Va., we have consistently gotten two cuttings,
totaling five tons of 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
prove valuable, however, only for frostless regions.
Creeping Pasture Grasses.
At the present time we have under trial five creeping pasture grasses,
more or less like Bermuda in a general way. You are, of course, aware
that a pasture grass to be valuable should be able to spread naturally
and must be able to hold the ground. Naturally it takes time to
determine all these facts. The five grasses I refer to are as follows:
Blue Couch (_Digitaria didactyla_). This is much like Bermuda, but
produces abundant good seed. For lawns and pastures it promises to be
about equally as valuable as Bermuda.
Manilla Grass (_Osterdamia matrella_). This is especially adapted to
rather moist sandy lands. It grows very dense, and where it thrives
should be valuable.
Lovi-lovi (_Chrysopogon aciculatus_). This furnishes much pasturage in
India, the Philippines, and South China. The seeds are very abundant,
and each sticks into the clothing like a pin. But about Hongkong it is
used generally as a lawn grass. It is well adapted to dry sandy soils.
If it proves well adapted to Florida we can, I think, chance its
becoming a nuisance, because if it does thrive it will give much
pasture.
Nilghiri Grass (_Andropogon emersus_). This is the only creeping grass
of the genus Andropogon (which includes our broom sedges) that we have
yet found. I secured it in the Nilghiri Hills of South India. It looks
promising.
Kikuyu Grass (_Pennisetum sp._). This is native to the highlands of
Uganda, in British East Africa, and in South Africa has created great
interest. It looks much like St. Augustine grass. At Biloxi, Miss., it
has succeeded well. It looked very fine at Arlington, Va., but could not
stand the winter. This grass is said to be very nutritious, and I
believe that on the better soils of Florida it will prove a real
acquisition.
I mention these new things to give you some idea of what we are doing. I
might mention several others that look good to us, but it will be time
to speak when we have tried them further. In brief, we are scouring the
earth to find grasses and legumes to meet Florida's needs. We have faith
that the grasses and legumes exist, if we only can find them.
Gentlemen, in closing I must say one thing more. Our country is at
war--a war that will tax our energies and resources to the uttermost. No
more dangerous idea can be entertained than to minimize the task, or to
delude ourselves with the prospect of an early peace.
One important factor is food, especially meat and wheat. Only an
unusually favorable season can produce for us as much wheat as last
year. Our meat and forage supplies are low, because in times of food
scarcity, grass crops are necessarily sacrificed. Gentlemen, you can do
much to help increase the meat supply. In developing your ranches to
increase your output, I want to urge as a patriotic duty that you
increase your good pasturage and your winter feed supply as rapidly as
you can. I could not urge this in peace times, because rapid development
is never the most economical. But in this time of stress you cattlemen
can help the nation most by increasing your output to the maximum. There
is no other way for you to give to the nation that will count so much. I
therefore urge that you brush aside all questions as to the economically
best method of increasing pasturage and forage, and to devote all your
capital and all your energy to doing this along any lines that are
sure.