SORGHUM. 157 



was this bo because the stems weie not considered the be&t form of animal 

 forage, owing to their pithy contents, and much better results could be 

 obtained from the saccharine sorghums. Of late years 3 however, certain 

 characteristics have been discovered amongst the grain sorghums which are 

 highly important in the economy of farming, particularly in dry areas. 

 These are — (1) their ability to set grain, somei imea in large quantil ies, under 

 very adverse conditions ; (2) the nutritive quality of the grain ; and (3) the 

 remarkable droaght-resisting properties of the plants. 



There are four varieties of grain sorghums of economic importance, namely, 

 Kafir, Milo, Feterita, and Kaoliang. 



The History of Several Varieties. 



The Kafir -rain sorghums were at first thought to be native only to the 

 extreme southern portions of Africa, but of late years indigenous varieties 

 have been discovered as far north as Rhodesia. They have probably been 

 grown and the -rain used as feed by the natives (such as Kafirs) from the 

 earliest times. Even at present they furnish a very considerable amount of 

 feed to the African tribes. 



Their introduction to the United States of America dates back to about 

 1875, when the variety known as White Karir was introduced. Of the three 

 varieties, White, Red, and Black Hull Kafir, the last-named has been proved 

 to be the best, and at present this is the variety which is mostly grown 

 throughout the States. Some 750,000 acres are devoted to Kafir in the 

 State of Kansas alone. 



The Kafir type was probably the"first grain sorghum to be grown in this 

 State, although the first reference in the Agricultural Gazette (1892) was to 

 the Dhurra type (Milo). At the present time Kafir is the grain sorghum 

 best known among farmers. 



The origin of Milo is uncertain. It is thought that it came from Africa ; 

 but all varieties, as far as South and Central Africa are concerned, are very 

 much unlike Milo. A variety grown in Egypt, however, and known as 

 Yellow Dhurra, is very similar to it. The introduction into America of this 

 sorghum dates back as far as 1885, and it was probably not long after this 

 that it was introduced into Australia. For many years it was grown in this 

 State as Milo maize, sometimes as Yellow Milo maize, although there is no 

 connection whatever between the sorghum and ordinary maize. When seed 

 was obtained from Egypt it was often grown under the same name as in 

 that country, such as Dhurra, Yellow Dhurra, kc. Thus a confusion of 

 terms between Dhurra and Milo has arisen, whereas in many cases the two 

 are identical. 



The cultivation of Milo in this country has diminished to a considerable 

 extent. This is probably due to (1) failure to appreciate the nutritive 

 quality of the grain; and (2) the pendent or "goose-neck" seed-heads, a 

 characteristic which has been entirely eliminated during late years as the 

 result of selection and acclimatisation. 



Feterita is one of the newest varieties of grain sorghums. It is a white 

 dhurra variety of Xorth Africa, but should not be confused with the old 

 white dhurra type known as Egyptian or Jerusalem corn and native to the 

 Barbary States. Feterita appears to be a native of the Sudan. In that 

 country the seeds are of a greyish tint, but are much whiter when grown in 

 the United States. There is no doubt, however, that the seeds of the plants 

 grown in this State are more greyish than pure white. 



