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and so perfectly as to become diversified in an inextricable series 

 of graduated forms. The Poas, Panicuras, and Festucas which 

 abound in our fields and meadows do not interchange their spe- 

 cific peculiarities, but grow side by side and maintain their iden- 

 tity. But the Sorgho is no sooner placed side by side with 

 Broom Corn and Dourrha, than the three hybridize, and produce 

 an offspring combining the peculiarities of all. 



The Sorghum vulgare has been cultivated for untold centuries 

 as a forage plant and as food for animals and man. The ques- 

 tion of its production of syrup and sugar is by no means a recent 

 one. Experiments were made upon it more than half a century 

 ago in Europe, and one of its names arose from the saccharine 

 secretion of its culm. Its native country is unknown ; but it is 

 supposed to originate in the same places where it has been so 

 long cultivated. Its grains have been found in Egyptian sarco- 

 phagi ; and these are said to have produced plants identical with 

 the modern Dourrha or Juari. After this long cultivation in all 

 kinds of soil and climate, and under such varied treatment, it 

 would be strange indeed if it did not exhibit a wide departure 

 from its normal type If the Indian corn has become so aston- 

 ishly changed in a shorter period of time, we may well under- 

 stand that the Sorghum should wander into all the varieties upon 

 which botanists have sought to found distinct species. 



I am induced to believe, therefore, that Broom Corn, Sorgho 

 Sucre, Imphee, and Dourrha, are varieties of one primitive species, 

 the Andropogon Sorghum of authors, or, allowing the genus Sorg- 

 hum to stand, Sorghum vulgare. 



The establishment of this fact will answer many of the ques- 

 tions which have been asked regarding its economic value. If 

 they be one species, they will of course hybridize and exchange 

 whatever properties they possess. The saccharine secretions of 

 one variety will be diminished by hybridation with another not 

 possessed of an equal amount. And the saccharine qualities 

 peculiar to one may be lost by planting in a soil or climate dif- 

 fering from that which has brought them forth in unusual quan- 

 tity. If their cultivation as a forage plant and a syrup or suo-ar- 

 producing plant shall prove profitable, the use of the grain in the 

 form of flour, as well as food for cattle and poultry, may consid- 

 erably diminish the cost of cultivation. But the question is yet 



