INDIAN COEN AND THE SORGHUMS FOE FOEAGE 203 



in early fall may thus re-turn twice as much profit as if it were held over 

 until winter. For early feeding sweet corn may often be advantageously 

 used. 



II. THE SORGHUMS 



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In the dry-farming districts, from Nebraska to Texas and Arizona, 

 the sorghums, both the saccharine sorghos and the non-saccharine grain 

 sorghums are of great and increasing importance as forage crops, because 

 they are far more drought resistant than corn and the leaves remain 

 green late in autumn. (235-41) In 1921 Texas alone grew 1,950,000 

 acres of grain sorghum of all varieties for grain and forage in addi- 

 tion to a large acreage of sorghos. The sorghums, chiefly the sorghos, 

 are valuable crops in the southern states for hay, soilage, or silage, and 

 are also grown in the northern states, chiefly for soilage. 



According to Piper 10 3 tons of air-dry fodder may be considered a 

 good and 6 tons a large return from the sorghums, while maximum 

 yields may reach 10 tons of dry fodder or 40 tons of green material. 

 Eeed of the Kansas Station 17 states that under Kansas conditions the 

 sorghums will produce one-third to one-half more forage per acre than 

 corn. 



308. Sorghum fodder and stover. Thruout regions of scanty rainfall 

 the sorghums are most commonly grown in drilled rows of sufficient 

 width to allow horse cultivation, by which the moisture is conserved 

 and larger yields obtained. When grown in drills, not too thickly, 

 much seed is produced and the stalks are somewhat coarse. Sorghum 

 forage is more palatable when cut before fully matured, but the seed 

 should be allowed to reach the early dough stage, for if cut earlier the 

 plants are watery and contain little nutriment. The crop is cured in 

 shocks, the same as Indian corn, but in the case of the juicy-stemmed 

 sorghos, which cure with difficulty, the shocks should be small. If left 

 in the field in humid regions for 3 months or longer, sorgho fodder is 

 apt to sour, due to fermentation of the sugar in the stalks. In sections 

 with ample rainfall the seed is often broadcasted, and the fine-stemmed 

 plants cut with a mower and cured in cocks, the same as the meadow 

 grasses. In the South where the rainfall is ample, or on irrigated lands, 

 2 to 3 cuttings of sorghum may be secured in a season if the crop is 

 cut before it matures; in the dry-farming districts the crop is usually 

 cut but once. 



The various types of grain sorghums have been previously described. 

 (235-40) Of this group the kafirs give the largest yields of the most 

 valuable forage, for they are leafy and the stems are more succulent 

 than those of milp, feterita, or kaoliang. Kafir fodder and stover com- 

 pare favorably in composition and feeding value with that from corn. 

 Feterita ranks next to kafir for forage, while milo, kaoliang, and shallu 

 have less foliage and more pithy stems. (771, 861) The dwarf types of 



"Forage Plants, p. 269. "Kan. Cir. 28. 



