454 THE FARMERS' HANDBOOK. 



Harvesting. 



The crop should not be harvested until the seed has formed in the head, 

 and has readied the milky stage. At this time the greatest yield is obtained 

 and the food is in the most palatable and digestible condition. 



It is not advisable to allow the crop to become too mature, for, although 

 the sugai content may be greater and the crude cellulose less in the matured 

 cane, digestion experiments show a much greater digestibility for the carbo- 

 hydrates, when the crop is in the milky stage. 



Several methods of harvesting are followed. A sickle is frequently used, 

 but this method entails considerable labour. Small hoes, with short handles, 

 are more effective, and when the operator has had a littte practice, the plants 

 are easily severed with a stroke of one hand, and caught and carried in the 

 hollow of the other am. 



A very useful, inexpensive implement for cutting sorghum or maize can be 

 made by attaching a scythe blade to a small sledge. This is drawn by a 

 horse close to the row, and in a good standing crop does excellent work. 



The maize harvester, which cuts and binds the crop, is a splendid machine, 

 and easily the best for handling either maize or sorghum grown in rows, 

 providing the plants are not too short. The handling of the crop is much 

 facilitated by its use, and the stalks are tied in bundles of convenient size. 



Harvesting for Seed. 



Without special machinery the best method of harvesting the seed is to 

 harvest the whole crop in bundles with the maize harvester or reaper and 

 binder, when, if the crop is uniform, the heads can be easily removed by a 

 few cuts with a sharp chopper from the rest of the bundle. The grain is then 

 best removed by the wheat thresher or header. If the concaves of corn- 

 shellers are set fairly closely, these will also act, or if more pegs are attached 

 to the drum of the broom millet heckler, this, too, should be effective. 



Feeding Value. 



Analyses of sorghum green fodder have been made .in the case of Planter's 

 Friend and Saccaline grown in New South Wales. The results show a very 

 high percentage of carbohydrates, but a very low one of protein. Saccaline 

 has a higher nutritive value than Planter. On account of the greater 

 quantity of food nutrients in maize, it is a superior green feed. A 

 right proportion of protein and carbohydrates is absolutely essential to get 

 the best results from the animal to which the food is fed, and consequently 

 sorghum should be fed in conjunction with other foods — such as lucerne, 

 hay, or bran, which are rich in protein. Palatability is an essential feature 

 in feeds, and sorghum possesses this quality in such a degree that it is 

 greedily eaten by stock. Besides being a valuable food for dairy cows, it can 

 be very satisfactorily used as green feed for pigs. 



The yield of greenstuff jier acre varies, but under ordinarily favourable 

 conditions, is about 15 tons per acre. Where the rainfall and soil are good, 

 it does not produce as heavy a crop as maize, but under unfavourable 

 conditions the average yield is higher. 



Sorghum Silage. 



The silage when well preserved is excellent food, and is relished by stock. 

 Owing to the high content of saccharine juice it is slightly more difficult to 

 cure sorghum into sweet silage than maize. During the fermentative pro- 

 cesses which occur in the transformation of green material into silage, the 



