110 



DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



Serious trouble, and even death, has at times resulted from cattle 

 or horses eating second-growth sorghum. This generally occurs 

 after periods of frost or extreme drought, when the plants have 

 been stunted in their growth and afterwards begin to grow. It 

 is due to the formation of a glucoside in the new shoots which sets 

 free prussic acid through the action of a ferment. Accidents usually 

 have happened when pastures are short and cattle get into a field 

 of sorghum, eating considerable of it on empty stomachs. They 

 should, therefore, be given some feed before being let into fields of 



FIG. 14. A field of dwarf black-hull kafir corn, a good grain-sorghum for western States. 



(Ball.) 



such sorghum; since no trouble will occur when second-growth 

 sorghum is made into hay or silage, the safer method is to use it 

 for one or the other of these purposes. 



The non-saccharine sorghums, so-called grain sorghums, kafir 

 corn, milo maize, and durra, are largely grown for the sake of the 

 grain in western States; they are also occasionally used as green 

 and dry forage, as well as for silage, for cattle, horses, and sheep. 

 These sorghums are discussed more fully under " Cereal Grains " 

 (Chapter XVI). Second-growth kafir corn and other grain sor- 

 ghums sometimes have poisonous properties, under similar condi- 



