172 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Shallu, or ' ' Egyptian wheat, ' ' is slender-stemmed, with low, spreading 

 heads which shatter badly. Reports from various experiment stations 

 show that shallu is of little value compared with the other sorghums. 



241. Sweet sorghums. The sweet sorghums, or sorghos, often called 

 "cane" by farmers, are forage rather than grain producers, and are 

 therefore discussed more fully in Chapter XII. (308-9) Early varieties 

 will mature wherever corn ripens. The seed of sweet sorghum contains 

 considerable tannin, which makes it astringent. Its feeding value is only 

 about two-thirds as much per pound as seed from the grain sorghums. 

 For grain production sweet sorghum is surpassed by corn in the humid 

 regions and by the grain sorghums in the plains districts. 



Darso, a dwarf, early maturing variety of sorghum introduced by the 

 Oklahoma Station, 11 has some of the characteristics of both the sweet 

 sorghums and the grain sorghums. The stalk is sweet and juicy, while 

 the grain is similar in composition to kafir. 



242. Broom corn. In harvesting broom corn the heads are cut before 

 the seed has fully matured, and the seed is removed from the brush be- 

 fore it is thoroly dry. This seed has feeding value and may be saved 

 by drying or ensiling. 



243. Millets. The millets chiefly grown in this country are: (1) the 

 foxtail millets, Sefaria Italica spp., all resembling common foxtail or 

 pigeon grass in appearance; and (2) the proso, hog, or broom corn 

 millets, Panicum miliaceum spp., which have spreading or panicled 

 heads, wide hairy leaves, and large seed. The latter are the common 

 millets of the Old World, which have been raised since prehistoric times 

 in certain districts as an important grain crop for human food. The 

 value of the various types of millet for forage is discussed in Chapter 

 XIII. 



Millet is not raised to any large extent for grain in this country 

 except in the northern plains district, where the growing season is too 

 short for the sorghums. Here it is grown chiefly as a late-sown catch 

 crop, for other cereals will usually outyield it if seeded at the normal 

 time. As a general rule proso yields 10 to 30 bushels per acre. 12 Attempts 

 have been made to exploit proso fraudulently as a very high-yielding 

 dry land crop. In trials covering 6 to 7 years at the Highmore, South 

 Dakota, Station, various types of proso millet averaged 16.4 bushels per 

 acre and varieties of foxtail millets 20.7 bushels. 13 Wilson and Skinner 

 found proso satisfactory for beef cattle, sheep, and swine at the South 

 Dakota Station, 14 but more grain was required for 100 pounds gain than 

 when corn was fed. The pork from millet-fed pigs was of good quality. 

 (744, 854, 952) Millet seed should be ground for all classes of stock. 



"Okla. Bui. 127. "S. D. Bui. 135. 



M U. S. D. A. Fanners' Bui. 1162. "S. D. Buls. 83, 86, 97. 



