THE SORGHUMS 

 KAFIR 



239 



219. Description and uses. Kafir, also called " kafir 

 corn," has shorter stems, 5 to 8 feet in height, and more 

 compact heads than have the saccharine sorghums (Fig. 

 118). The heads are always erect and the grain projects 

 well beyond the chaff. There are red and white varieties ; 



FIG. 119. ON LEFT, Two HEADS OF MILO ; AND ON RIGHT, Two OF 

 BLACK-HULLED WHITE KAFIR. 



the one most extensively grown is Black-hulled White kafir 

 (Fig. 119). 



The most valuable quality of this plant is its drought 

 resistance, which makes it an important grain and forage 

 crop in the dry climate of the western part of Kansas, Okla- 

 homa, and Texas, where it is largely grown as a substitute for 

 corn, which it exceeds in yield of grain in regions where the 

 rainfall is scant. East of Texas the crop of grain, though 



