SORGHUM. Uil 



is easily left behind by tbe other sorghums. Kafir possesses good drought- 

 resisting properties, and the leaf growth will remain green for a long 

 period. This characteristic was particularly noted by the Experimentalist al 

 Nyngan in a season which was very dry, when it was reported as retaining 

 its verdure the longest. 



Katir has not sucoeeded yet, in any season, in setting seed at Cowra and 

 Nyngan Experiment Farms. At Yanco Experiment Farm, under irrigation, 

 however, and at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, with a good rainfall, some 

 high yields of grain have been produced. At Yanco yields as high as 120 

 bushels per acre can be obtained, while at the College it has yielded I 1 bushels 

 against -40 of Milo. 



There is very little to choose between the fodder yields of Katir and those of 

 Feterita and Milo, when grown inland under irrigation or in the coastal dis 

 tricts. Yields at Cowra were 4 tons 13 cwt. against 4 tons 4 cwt. of Milo, 

 while at the College it produced 10 tons 1 cwt. against 9 tons 4 cwt. of Milo. 



Katir is the slowest of all grain sorghums to mature. In the interior it 

 does not even show signs of flower until the others have almost matured 

 their grain, while at the College in 1916-17 the figures given for maturing 

 were— Kafir 112 days, Milo 98 days, Feterita 91 days, Kaoliang 75 days. 



Owing to its inability to set grain in the interior, Katir must be discarded 

 as a grain-producing sorghum for those parts. The increase in fodder yields 

 over those of Milo, Feterita and Kaoliang is also too slight to justify its 

 growth for this purpose alone. Under irrigation it has so far succeeded 

 best of all the grain sorghums in yield of grain, although there are strong 

 indications that Milo, as it is improved in course of time by selection, will 

 outyield it. On the coast, Kafir has proved undoubtedly the most successful 

 of all the grain sorghums up to date. In coastal districts, however, the grain 

 sorghums have maize to contend with from a grain-producing point of 

 view ; and it is only in districts where dry summer spells are fairly frequent, 

 such as parts of the South Coast, that it can ever hope to compete with 

 maize. From a fodder point of view much better results are, as a rule, 

 obtained from the saccharine sorghums, such as Planter's Friend or Amber 

 Cane, although the fungus which is rampant in the leaves of the sweet 

 sorghums, and which is absent from Kafir corn, will probably be a matter for 

 consideration in. some districts. Some farmers are of the opinion, even 

 now, that it pays, on account of this fungus, to grow Kafir in preference to 

 Planter's Friend. 



Milo. — Although Milo has been grown from time to time in thi -s State, 

 few data are available as to its success, and it has never been taken up 

 to any extent. Experiments were carried out on a systematic scale some 

 years ago, and since then selection and acclimatisation have eliminated, to a 

 considerable extent, the objectionable features noticed in the first year's 

 crop, viz , its goose-neck, pendent heads, and the small yield of the seed 

 crop. The Milo, as it is grown to-day at the experiment farms raid in 

 farmers' experiment plots, is far different from and superior to the Milo of 

 a few years ago. 



Milo has been grown at Nyngan, Cowra, Wagga, Bathurst, and Yanco 

 Experiment Farms, at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, and on farmers' 

 experiment plots. 



The germination of Milo seed has always been uniformly good, and it is 



not as sensitive to cold soils as is Feterita seed. Next to Kaoliang, it is the 



most rapid grower of all the sorghums. Tillering takes place when tbe 



plants are removed some distance apart, and under such conditions the crop 



- its seed irregularly. The plant itself is fairly drought-resistant, but 



