THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 59 



Place in the Rotation. When the non-saccha- 

 rine sorghums are grown on soils low in fertility and 

 leechy in character, the aim should be to grow them 

 after some form of green crop that has been plowed 

 under, as, for instance, crimson clover, one or the 

 other of the vetches, or winter rye. Since crimson 

 clover and the vetches are able to store nitrogen in 

 the land, they will be much more suitable than rye 

 where they will grow equally well. These crops can 

 be grown in the winter and plowed under in the 

 spring in ample time to admit of sowing one or the 

 other of the non-saccharine sorghums on the same 

 land. Thus treated they will greatly add to the 

 ability of the soil to produce. In addition to fur- 

 nishing readily available food for the sorghums, they 

 will also give the land much power to hold moisture. 

 Both crops, that is to say, the green crop and the 

 sorghum crop coming after it, would be cleaning 

 crops. Where these crops can not be made to follow 

 a green crop plowed under, they may be placed 

 anywhere in the rotation. On poor soils it would be 

 necessary to add commercial fertilizers before plant- 

 ing the crop. But on the rich soils of the Mississippi 

 basin this would not be so necessary, and the same is 

 true of much of the soil in Texas and in the moun- 

 tain valleys of the southwest. 



Soils. The soils most suitable for the non- 

 saccharine sorghums are much the same as those that 

 are best suited to corn. They will grow best on mild 

 loams, that is to say, loams that are warm and 

 friable, in which the particles are fine rather 

 than coarse, and in which the sand and clay 

 are so blended as to give the soil power to 

 retain a . fair amount of moisture when lying 



