240 SOUTHERN FIELD CHOPS 



sometimes large, is uncertain, as a result of attacks by 

 insects. 



In feeding value, kafir grain is nearly equal to a corre- 

 sponding weight of corn. It is fed to all classes of live-stock 

 and is especially prized for poultry. There is more need to 

 grind kafir than to grind corn. The forage remains green 

 up to the time of the ripening of the grain. 



Kafir requires about four to four and a half months to 

 reach maturity. 



220. Soils and planting. The kafir plant, thrives on a 

 variety of soils. It succeeds especially well on sod land 

 never before cultivated. Its cultivation is nearly the same 

 as that of sorghum grown for sirup. In the Southwest, 

 kafir is often listed, which is considered to be advantageous 

 in a dry season. There it is sometimes planted with a 

 two-row corn planter. The plants are left 3 to 5 inches 

 apart in the row and the rows are ordinarily 3^ feet 

 apart. 



221. Harvesting. This is usually done with a corn- 

 binder, but sometimes with a header or device attached to a 

 wagon and intended to cut and lift into the wagon body 

 only the heads. Heads thus cut must be kept in thin layers 

 to prevent heating. The seeds are threshed from the stalk 

 by the use of an ordinary grain thresher. 



MILO 



222. This crop is also called " milo maize." The stems 

 resemble those of kafir ; the heads are shorter and more 

 rounded and the seeds are more flattened than those of 

 kafir (Fig. 119). Milo is even more drought resistant than 



