8 



FORAGE-CROP EXPERIMENTS AT SAN ANTONIO. 



Sorghum may be planted any time from March 1 to August 1 with 

 the expectation of securing a crop, although as a rule the earlier the 

 planting the larger the yield. When planted early in March, from 

 two to four cuttings can be obtained from the earlier maturing varie- 

 ties, such as Red Amber, while from the later maturing varieties, 

 such as Sumac, two or three cuttings can be obtained under favor- 

 able conditions. 



The varietal tests in 1908 indicated that Sumac and Red Amber 

 were the best varieties for this region; hence, all later tests were 

 carried on with these two varieties only. Table II gives the results 

 of a test of varieties in 1908, which was an unusually favorable year. 

 It has been observed that an unfavorable season often magnifies the 

 differences in favor of the better varieties 



Table II. — Yield of sorghum varieties grown in one-tenth acre plats at (he San Antonio 



Experiment Farm in 1908. 



The sorghum was planted in rows 4 feet apart and the plats were 

 one-tenth of an acre in size. As will be seen from Table II, the Sumac 

 is the heaviest yielder of the varieties tested, but the hay is somewhat 

 coarser than that from the other varieties. On the whole, the Sumac 

 is deservedly the most popular variety grown. (PI. I, fig. 1.) 



In 1910 a comparative test of the Red Amber and Sumac sorghums 

 was carried out under irrigation. Table III gives the results of this 

 test. 



Table III. — Comparative test of the Red Amber and Sumac sorghum* grown under irriga- 

 tion at the San Antonio experiment farm in 1910. Triplicate plantings. 



[Cir. 106] 



