CHAPTER XVIII 

 FORAGE CROPS 



291. The sorghums. Both the wild and the cultivated sor- 

 ghums are native to almost the whole of Africa and to much of 

 India. Many hundreds of 

 forms are cultivated in 

 these countries, as well 

 as in China. The grain 

 is used for human food, 

 for feeding farm ani- 

 mals, and for making 

 alcoholic drinks. The 

 plants have varied 

 industrial uses. The 

 sorghums are large suc- 

 culent annual grasses 

 (Fig. 105), with jointed, 

 pithy, more or less juicy, 

 and sometimes sweet 

 stems, with from eight to 

 twenty leaves, and with 

 perfect flowers borne in 

 terminal heads. Under 

 favorable conditions from one to many suckers are produced 

 from the base, and when the plant is nearly mature, a branch 

 may arise from each node, beginning with the second from 



223 



FIG. 105. A field of pure-bred Black-hulled 

 White Kafir 



