58 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



but for the low palatability which it possesses. It 

 is thought a greater weight of food can be obtained 

 from this plant than from any of the sorghums or 

 millets that have been tried in the United States. 



These plants can all be made to furnish pasture, 

 soiling food, hay and fodder for winter feeding, and 

 when the season is long enough to mature seed, they 

 can all be made to furnish large yields of grain. It 

 is yet premature to say much about the precise rela- 

 tive adaptation of these plants for feeding uses. It 

 would probably be correct, however, to state that 

 Milo maize and teosinte are the most promising 

 pasture and soiling plants, that Kaffir corn is the 

 most promising fodder plant, especially for dry 

 areas, and that dhourra and Jerusalem corn are the 

 largest producers of seed. The seeds of all the non- 

 saccharine sorghums are excellent for all kinds of 

 farm animals, but unless when given to fowls they 

 ought to be ground before being fed. 



The yields of fodder will of course vary greatly 

 with the variations in soils and in the length of the 

 seasons. They will run from a few to many tons. 

 The largest yields of soiling food are obtained from 

 teosinte and Milo maize. 



Distribution. The non-saccharine sorghums 

 are without exception less hardy than the common 

 varieties of corn. Nor are they so hardy as sor- 

 ghum is, at least in some of its varieties. It follows, 

 therefore, that these plants are not likely to succeed 

 far northward. Onl} r in the Mississippi basin and 

 in the Rocky mountain valleys, with their hot mid- 

 summer temperatures, are they likely to succeed in 

 the near future north of the fortieth parallel of north 



