CHAPTER IV. 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 



The non-saccharine sorghums are a somewhat 

 numerous class. They are so called because of the 

 relatively small proportion of sugar which they con- 

 tain, as compared with the saccharine varieties of 

 sorghum. Because of this, however, the conclusion 

 must not be reached that they do not possess any 

 sugar when matured, or that they do not possess it 

 in considerable quantities. All the non-saccharine 

 sorghums are more or less rich in sugar, and some 

 of them are possessed of it in a very considerable 

 degree. 



The chief of the varieties of the non-saccharine 

 sorghums grown in this country include Kaffir corn 

 (Fig 9), Milo maize, Dhourra and Jerusalem corn. 

 Teosinte is not, properly speaking, a sorghum, but it 

 will be discussed along with the non-saccharine sor- 

 ghums, because of the similarity of the cultivation 

 required to grow it and of the uses for which it is 

 grown. Chief among the varieties of Kaffir corn 

 are the red and the white. There are two prominent 

 varieties of Milo maize, named yellow and white, 

 respectively. And of Dhourra there are also two 

 varieties, the brown and the white. The last men- 

 tioned would seem to be identical with the plant 

 known as White African millet. As but little, com- 

 paratively, has yet appeared in print with reference 

 to the non-saccharine sorghums, unless it be Kaffir 



48 



