4 THREE MUCH-MISEEPRESENTED SOBGHUMS. 



It was imported directly from India by officers of the Louisiana 

 State Experiment Station, about 1890. By them it was known as 

 "Egyptian wheat/' and was found to be an inferior variety of sor- 

 ghum, as the following quotations will show. 



Recently introduced; stalk small; panicle open and spreading; not equal to other 



kinds given here." 



Low growing, inferior kind, nonsaccharine. Has seeds in open panicle. Inferior 

 to yellow and white milo and kafir corn; should not be used with expectation of best 



results. & 



We grew it for many years at all three stations and abandoned it as inferior for 

 forage to other sorghums. "Egyptian wheat" was imported directly from India by 

 us and corresponds to your description of shallu. Our farm managers well recognize 

 it from your description.*; 



Though discarded by the Louisiana station, small lots of the seed 

 had been taken from time to time by visitors. In this way the 

 variety was carried to other localities, principally westward into 

 Texas and Oklahoma. Early in 1905 it came to the writer's atten- 

 tion in Texas, under the name "California wheat." Through field 

 investigation and the aid of agricultural papers it was found growing 

 at scattered points in Oklahoma and Texas. Many names, mostly 

 somewhat misleading, have been applied to it in the past five years. 

 Among them are ' ' California Rice corn," " California wheat," ' ' Chicken 

 corn," "Chinese Golden sorghum," "Egyptian rice," "Egyptian 

 wheat," "Mexican wheat," and "Rice corn." 



RELATIONSHIPS AND DESCRIPTION. 



Shallu belongs to a group of sorghums entirely distinct from any of 

 the other groups grown in this country. Botanically, it belongs to 

 the variety roxhurgJiii Ilackel. This variety is found conunonly in 

 some parts of India and also in Africa, especially in the Sudan 

 and in central East Africa. It seems to be the leading variety 

 in the island of :Madagascar. Recent importations are represented 

 by Seed and Plant Introduction Nos. 16856 and 18192 from 

 German East Africa, 23422 from Natal, 23714 to 23716 from Portu- 

 guese East Africa, and 24339 and 24340 from the Transvaal. Other 

 recent numbers belong probably to this variety, but the plants have 

 not matured, and this fact can not be certainly determined from the 



seed alone. 



As found in Africa and India the group possesses the following 

 characters. The stems are tall and slender, 6 to 12 feet in height. 

 They stool freely, producing a large number of suckers. The pith is 

 neither juicy nor sweet, but dry. The heads or p anicles (fig. 1) are 



d Bulletin 19, second series, Louisiana State Experiment Stations, 1892, p. 538. 

 b Bulletin 53, Louisiana State Agricultural Experiment Station, 1898, p. 12. ^ 

 cDr. W. C. Stubbs (formerly director of the Louisiana State Experiment Stations), 

 in a letter to the writer, March 27, 190G. 

 [Cir. 50] 



