178 Effective Farming 



leaves. These grain sorghums are grown chiefly in Kansas, 

 Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. They are 

 drought-resistant plants and make very valuable crops in 

 sections too dry for corn. Compared with corn they are 

 somewhat higher in protein, the carbohydrate content is about 

 the same, and the fat much lower. In feeding value they 

 have been found to be about 90 per cent that of corn. 

 They are palatable and are eaten with relish by live-stock. 



Groups. The chief groups of the non-saccharine sorghums 

 are kafir (Fig. 75), milo, durra, and kaoliang. The groups 

 differ in shape and size of the heads and in size of the stern and 

 stalks. All have the same use. 



Cultural methods. The crop is seeded and cultivated much 

 like corn. It is harvested in four ways by cutting with a 

 corn-binder, by heading with a kafir-header, or with an or- 

 dinary grain-header, or by heading by hand. That cut with 

 a corn-binder is usually shocked and either headed later or 

 fed in the bundle. Proper curing and storage is a problem 

 in handling the headed grain. If the crop is at all green or 

 is wet from rains, the heads are usually thrown out in long, 

 shallow piles to cure, after which they are stored in cribs or 

 granaries. If the crop is fully mature and dry, the heads may 

 be taken to the storage place without spreading in piles. Cribs 

 and bins used for the storage of the heads must be well venti- 

 lated or the grain will heat too much. 



QUESTIONS 



1. What is a grass from the botanical standpoint? 



2. State the chief uses of grasses. 



3. Why should not cheap grass seed be planted? 



4. What is meant by the curing of grass? 



5. Which grass grown for hay is of the greatest value in the United 

 States? 



6. What is the chief grass used for hay in the region where you 

 live? How is this hay disposed of by the farmers? Is it utilized as 

 feed for live-stock on their own farms or is it sold to be shipped from the 



