FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 401 



sometimes made that where one has an abundant supply of corn fodder 

 there is little need for putting in a crop like sorghum, and, while to a 

 certain extent this is true, yet there is always some advantage in having 

 a variety of fodders to feed during the winter. 



Sorghum is a southern plant and should not be sown until the soil is 

 warm. Generally speaking, it is just as well to delay seeding until after 

 the corn crop is in. As the seed is comparatively small it will alway:, 

 pay to thoroughly prepare the ground. A clover meadow plowed in the 

 spring and afterwards thoroughly worked down with the disc and harrow 

 makes a most excellent seed bed for sorghum. In case the soil is rich 

 there is more or less danger of lodging, but as sorghum is a gross feeder 

 the yield will be about in proportion to the supply of available fertility. 

 Where the aim is to secure the greatest possible weight per acre we 

 believe it will generally pay to add a little farm yard manure unless the 

 soil is naturally very rich. 



The crop may be put in in rows about the same distance apart as 

 corn rows, in which case the ordinary grain drill is used and the seed 

 sown very thickly in the row. As the seed is small, it will require only 

 a few quarts of seed to sow an acre in this fashion. When the crop is 

 seeded in rows it is usually cultivated much in the same way as corn, 

 and it may be harvested with the ordinary corn binder. Possibly the 

 greater ease in harvesting is the best argument that can be given for 

 sowing the crop in rows, the disadvantage of this method being that the 

 stems of the sorghum will not be so small as if the seed is sown broad-, 

 cast and a larger amount used per acre. 



Where no drill is at hand we would advise using at least eighty 

 pounds of seed per acre, and so much the better if one hundred and 

 twenty pounds of seed per acre can be used, because the fodder in this 

 case will grow much finer, and on account of this there will be much 

 less waste when it is fed. Care should be taken to insure a good cover- 

 ing of soil, and unless the season is unusually wet it will be advisable to 

 cover the seed to a depth of two or three inches. If the soil is fairly 

 firm and fine on the surface we would much prefer discing in the seed 

 to harrowing it. When sorghum is sown broadcast in this manner it is 

 necessary to cut with a mower, or in case the soil is light it may be pos- 

 sible to handle it with the ordinary self-binder, in which case it may be 

 shocked similar to a grain crop. 



FARMING ON $100 LAND. 



Wallaces' Farmer. 



It has been a long time since farmers west of the Mississippi have 

 made as much money on paper as they have made in the last two years. 

 They have seen their land advance on an average of about twenty dol- 

 lars per acre without crooking a finger or winking an eye. A man with 

 a half section can easily count himself six thousand dollars richer with- 

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