462 THE farmers' handbook. 



the grain yield is seriously affected by adverse conditions. Unlike Feterita, 

 the heads will not hold out until favourable conditions arise, and if the 

 season is a particularly dry one, the yield is light. No amount of rain after 

 the heads have once formed, appears to increase the yield to any extent. It 

 must be noted, however, that it requires little moistuie to produce a good 

 grain crop, and in this respect Milo is one of our best sorghums. 



In all cases, with the exception of farmers' experiment plots at Wee Waa 

 and Inverell, Milo has consistently given higher yields than any of the 

 other grain sorghums. The seed is always bright, plump, and heavy, and 

 particularly characterised by the long period it will hold on to the head 

 after maturity. This factor is distinctly advantageous in the harvesting 

 of the crop. 



As a rule, Milo produces more fodder than Feterita or Kaoliang, but not 

 so much as Kafir. In the western districts, without irrigation, it will yield 

 up to 4 tons of green fodder per acre, while under irrigation it will reach 

 as high as 9 tons per acre. 



Milo, as a rule, matures later than Feterita or Kaoliang ; but as earliness 

 in maturity is a desirable factor, selection is being carried out with a view to 

 modifying it in this respect. Up to date Milo is the best grain sorghum 

 growing in the western districts without irrigation, and with the normal 

 rainfall. It may be exceeded in certain seasons by Feterita or even Koaliang ; 

 but its uniformity in growth, its capacity for setting a heavy crop with a 

 small rainfall, and, lastly, the superior nutritive qualities of the grain render 

 it most attractive, and perhaps best adapted to the larger portion of our 

 semi-arid districts. 



Feterita. — This sorghum has been grown at Cowra, Nyngan, Bathurst, 

 Wagga, and Yanco Experiment Farms, at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, 

 and on farmers' experiment plots. The seed of Feterita must be sown in 

 warm soil if a good germination is desired. Failures have been recorded by 

 sowing in cool wet soils, and it is the most sensitive in this respect of all the 

 sorghums. Good seed has a high germinating capacity; the 1917-18 seed 

 when tested gave a 98 per cent, vitality, and an excellent stand is therefore 

 assured under favourable conditions. Feterita is rather slow in the first 

 stages of growth, and the plants are inclined to tiller to a considerable extent. 

 Whether this is advantageous or otherwise has not yet been decided. If the 

 crop is desired for both fodder and grain the tillering may be a distinct 

 advantage, but it leads somewhat to irregularity in the maturing of the 

 grain. Although, as a rule, Feterita flowers later than Milo, it matures its 

 seed very quickly, and can generally be harvested before Milo. In farmers' 

 experiment plots at Inverell and Wee Waa it matured its grain even before 

 Kaoliang. 



Feterita is an excellent sorghum to tide over dry spells, both the stems and 

 heads holdin ; un remarkably well until favourable conditions arise for the 

 grain to form and mature, which it does very quickly. It matures grain 

 under adverse conditions better than Milo, but not as well as Kaoliang. At 

 Cowra and Nyngan, and also in a farmer's experiment plot at Tallawang, 

 Milo yielded higher than Feterita, but in plots at Wee Waa and Inverell in 

 1917-18 it outyielded Milo (40 bushels against 30 in the first, case and by 24 

 against 21 in the second). Generally speaking, yields varying from 20 to 30 

 bushels should be obtainable in most parts of the Riverina. At Nygann 

 Feterita has yielded less than Milo and more than Kaoliang, and at Cowra 

 less than both. Generally speaking, owing to the limited height of the plant 

 which is much less than Milo and Kaoliang, it can hardly be expected to 



