48 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
relished by all kinds of stock and in general is a valuable 
forage plant. Horses sometimes appear to suffer injury 
if fed millet exclusively but cattle and sheep are free from 
this danger. If cut too late the bristles of the seed-heads 
may become troublesome. It can be sown after a grain 
crop or in place of other crops when there has been a failure 
to secure a stand. The tenderness of the growing plants 
render early sowing impracticable. (See Farmers’ Bulletin 
No. 101.) 
57. Sorghum is grown in many parts of the world and, 
according to the variety, for many different purposes. 
The seed is used for food for man in parts of the Old 
World, and.in the United States that of certain forms, such 
as kafir, is used for stock feed. One variety is called broom- 
corn (Par. 211). The saccharine sorghums or sorgo con- 
tain much sugar in the sap and are used for the commer- 
cial production of sugar (Par. 97). The saccharine varie- 
ties such as the Orange and Amber, and also some of the 
non-saccharine such as kafir and milo, are grown for 
forage. Those which are grown for the seed may furnish 
forage also, the stalks being cut and shocked as in corn, 
the grain being thrashed out or the heads cut off and the 
remainder used as rough forage. In the semi-arid region 
where drought-resistant hay crops are needed, sorghum 
is much used as a hay crop. For this purpose it is sown or 
drilled thickly, so as to produce numerous slender stems, 
and the crop mowed and cured as hay. In some parts of 
the Middle West, sorghum is known as “cane.” (See 
Farmers’ Bulletins Nos. 246, 288, 322, 448, 552.) 
58. Corn or maize is sometimes sown thickly and used 
for hay as is described above for sorghum. The most 
common use of corn as forage is in connection with its 
use as a grain crop. The corn may then be treated in 
