80EGHUMS 273 



tinent, but the yellow durra or durra safra of Egypt is 

 more nearly like milo than any other known variety. 



Milo is characterized by having stout, rather pithy 

 stems ; dense ovate heads, nearly always recurved ; glumes 

 dark colored ; florets awned ; grains pale yellow. A white- 

 seeded form has also been developed near Chillicothe, 

 Texas. Milo seems to be entirely immune from kernel 

 smut and head smut. 



323. Seed-production. The seeding habits of the 

 sorghums are excellent and the yield an acre large. The 

 grain varieties, kafir, milo and feterita, commonly yield 

 25 bushels an acre and maximums of 75 bushels are 

 reported for kafir, 46 bushels for milo and 80 bushels 

 for feterita. The average yield an acre according to the 

 United States Census was 19.4 bushels in 1899 and 19.8 

 bushels in 1909. The commercial seed of these grain 

 sorghums is usually excellent both in purity and germina- 

 tion. 



The seed yield of sorgos is much less definitely known. 

 The census of 1909 shows a total production of 833,707 

 bushels on 72,497 acres or 11.6 bushels an acre. Over 

 70 per cent of this was produced in Kansas, the other 

 important states being Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma. 

 Of the total amount probably over one-half was Arnber 

 sorgo. Good yields range from 20 to 40 bushels an acre. 



The commercial seed of the sorgos often leaves much to 

 be desired, as there is usually a mixture of varieties and 

 seldom a pure strain. There is, however, no greater 

 difficulty in growing pure seed than in the case of the grain 

 sorghums. 



The seeds of most sorghums retain their viability well 

 for several years, but no detailed studies have been re- 

 corded. 



