262 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



doubtless the Guinea corn, brought from Africa to the 

 West Indies before 1707, at which date it was much cul- 

 tivated in Jamaica. In the United States broom-corn 

 sorghums were grown in colonial times, but the first definite 

 record of a sweet sorghum was that introduced in 1853 

 from France, the variety then called Chinese sorghum and 

 much like that now called Amber. In 1857 it was widely 

 distributed by the United States Patent Office. 



Since 1857 numerous varieties have been introduced 

 into the United States, mainly by the Department of 

 Agriculture, from all parts of the world where the crop is 

 grown, as with the agricultural development of the semi- 

 arid region the sorghums have become increasingly impor- 

 tant. 



311. Adaptations. Sorghums are adapted to regions 

 having a warm summer climate. The earliest known 

 varieties will mature with three months of warm weather, 

 but some of the tropical African varieties barely come into 

 bloom in Florida in 7 months. In regions of long, cool 

 summers like northern Europe, sorghums are of but little 

 value. 



No degree of summer heat seems too intense for the 

 sorghums, but they are injured both in spring and in fall 

 by light frosts. 



Sorghum has no marked preference for soil except that 

 it be well drained. On account of its deep roots a permea- 

 ble subsoil is desirable. 



In general the climatic and soil adaptations of sorghums 

 are nearly identical with those of corn. Sorghum, how- 

 ever, suffers less than corn from intense heat, lack of 

 humidity or insufficient soil moisture, often remaining 

 fresh and green when corn is completely destroyed, or 

 remaining semi-dormant during short periods of extreme 



