164 



FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



grain sorghums, are of great and increasing importance as forage 

 crops, because they are far more drought resistant than corn and the 

 leaves remain green late in autumn. The sorghums, mainly the 

 sorghos, are valuable in the southern states for hay, soilage, and silage, 

 and are also grown in the northern states, chiefly for soilage. 



Three tons of air-dry fodder is a good and 6 tons a large return from 

 the sorghums, while maximum yields may reach 10 tons of dry fodder 



Fig. 46. — A Field of Kafir in the Texas Panhandle 



Because of their resistance to drought, the grain sorghiims and tlie sorghos are 

 of great importance as forage crops in the semi-arid districts. (From The 

 Southwest Trail, Eock Island Lines.) 



or 40 tons of green material.^ Under Kansas conditions the sorghums 

 produce one-third to one-half more forage per acre than corn.* 



Sorg-hum fodder and stover. — Thruout regions of scanty rainfall 

 the sorghums are most commonly grown in drilled rows of sufficient 

 width to allow cultivation, by which the moisture is conserved and 

 larger yields obtained. When grown in drills, not too thickly, much 

 seed is produced and the stalks are somewhat coarse. Sorghum forage 

 is more palatable when cut before full maturity, but the seed should 

 be allowed to reach the early dough .stage, for if cut earlier the plants 



3 Piper, Forage Plants, p. 269. 



4 Reed, Kan. Cir. 28. 



