THIRD ANNUAL YEAR ROOK — PART II. 73 



stirring the sorghum with a hay tedder. By curing in this way one gets 

 rid of handling a large quantity of water. After drying, the fodder can 

 be placed in shocks of 500 or 600 pounds weight and allowed to remain 

 there until it is thoroughly cured. During the winter it may be drawn 

 to the mow or stack or may be left in the field and hauled directly tc 

 the feed yards when required. 



Sorghum fodder is well adapted for all kinds of stock. Cattle pre- 

 fer it to corn fodder, and indeed if it is properly cured they will leave 

 good hay for the sorghum. I have known horses to do exceedingly well 

 during the winter, while sheep eat it with great relish and put it to 

 good use. It makes excellent food for brood sows, more especially if the 

 seed is not sown thickly so that the stems are somewhat large. 



Before leaving the subject of sorghum I should like to say that it 

 is practicable to sow it after a cereal crop is removed. I have in mind 

 one instance where a barley crop was removed and sorghum sown about 

 the middle of July. This was cut the last day of September and gave a 

 yield of seven tons of cured fodder per acre. As to the value of sorghum 

 as a pasture crop there is considerable difference of opinion. It is true 

 that there are instances where animals seem to have been suddenly pois- 

 oned when turned onto green sorghum. More especially has this been the 

 case where attempts were made to pasture the second growth. Just 

 what the cause is in such cases is not definitely known, but it is gen- 

 erally believed that if greater caution were used in turning animals onto 

 pasture of this character that there would be little or no trouble. Thous- 

 ands and tens of thousands of animals are pastured on first, second and 

 third growth sorghum in surrounding states, and for one person who 

 has experienced a loss it is possible to find hundreds who have nothing 

 but praise to offer for this crop when it is used for pasture. Animals 

 should never be turned onto green sorghum when they are hungry, nor 

 should they at any time be changed from dry feed to green sorghum. If 

 they are allowed to fill themselves with clover or some succulent grass 

 before being turned on the sorghum the danger is practically eliminated. 



Kaffir corn in some respects is quite similar to sorghum, but so far 

 as my experience goes it is scarcely so well adapted to Iowa conditions 

 as the sorghum. It does not give such large yields, while it is not so 

 palatable to stock. There are those, of course, who are growing it with 

 profit. It is usually sown thickly at the rate of from eighty to one hun- 

 dred pounds of seed per acre, and is harvested in the same way as sor- 

 ghum. There is usually more waste in feeding out this crop on account 

 of the fact that the stems are not palatable and are left uneaten. The 

 crop is drouth-resisting in character, and on this account it is sure to 

 produce a liberal amount of forage no matter how dry the season may be. 



The characteristics of millet are so well known that it is scarcely 

 necessary to dwell on them here. There is a place for millet on the 

 farm, providing one knows how to handle it. As it is ordinarily handled 

 it is not a very satisfactory crop, the mistake being in not cutting it in 

 time. If the seed is allowed to harden the leaves and stems become fibrous 

 and when this takes place there is always a disappointment in feeding 

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