78 SORGHUM. 



have already, through centuries of cultivatiou in Africa, become per- 

 manently fixed in their character. 



Besides the above foreign varieties, there have been grown, at the 

 Department of Agriculture, at Washington, during the jDast five years, 

 nominally, sixty distinct varieties of sorghum, from seed received from 

 different parts of the country : and, at the present time, the author 

 has in his possession full ripened panicles representing all these, as, 

 also, each of the foreign varieties already mentioned, besides many 

 specimens of seed from what purport to be new varieties, which have 

 been sent in to be planted, in order that their comparative value for the 

 purpose of syrup and sugar production might be determined. In the 

 current news concerning this industry, mention is often made of other 

 varieties, at least, under names new to the author, and it is, without 

 doubt, true that there exists, at present, in the United States, at least 

 one hundred varieties of sorghum, more or less distinct. There is lit- 

 tle reason to doubt, that, should a careful examination be made in 

 those sectious which liave already so abundantly supplied us with new 

 varieties, the list might be very greatly extended. Indeed, when we 

 remember that, so far as oui- knowledge extends, India is the original 

 Iiome of the s;)rghum, and that, for thousands of years, in all proba- 

 bility, it has been subjected to cultivation there, it seems more than 

 probable that very many varieties now unknown to us, and, possibly, 

 surpassing in value any we now possess, might be found there. More 

 than twenty years ago, Mr. J. H. Smith, of Quincy, 111., in an article 

 upon sorghum, says, in reference to this very point : " Is there any 

 way in which the ^Agricultural Department at Washington could spend 

 money to better advantage, tiiau in sending an exjjerieuced agent to 

 the countries from which these canes have originated, for the purpose 

 of obtaining all possible knowledge concerning these important acces- 

 sions to the agriculture of our country?" 



A distinction is made in the sorghums received from Natal, 

 most of them being called Imphees: but two are called Amabele. 

 Professor von Kloeden speaks of the native Kaffirs calling the fifteen 

 varieties which they cultivate Imphi or Mabali ; and he mentions Bali 

 as the name under which the sorghum is grown in Egypt, where six 

 varieties are cultivated. 



I have not met with these names elsewhere in the literature of sor- 

 ghum. But the use at Natal as a specific name is interesting, and it 

 v/ill be observed, in the plates showing the ripe panicles of these two 

 varieties, that they are peculiar in having large, prominent seed ; in 

 fact, the Umgatubanda is remarkable for the size of its seed. 



Analysis also shows the juice of these two varieties to be very infe- 



