CLASSIFICATION OF SORGHUMS 245 



The Acreage. The acreage, as nearly as can be estimated from 

 the Census of 1909, 1 is as follows : 



Acreage of Sorghums 



1909 1899 Increase per cent 



Grain sorghums 1,635,153 266,513 513.5 



Sorghums for forage (including 

 both grain and sweet sor- 

 ghums) 1,900,000 



Sorghum for syrup 370,000 244,000 51.0 



Broom corn ' 326,102 178,584 82.6 



Three-fourths of all the sorghum for grain and forage is grown 

 in the three States of Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, in the order 

 named. The approximate acreage for grain and forage in the three 

 States is as follows : 



Acreage of Sorghums in Three Leading States 



Grain sorghum Forage sorghum 

 State acreage acreage 



Kansas 388,495 531,000 



Oklahoma 532,515 301,000 2 



Texas 573,384 655,000 2 



Classification of Sorghums. Sorghums are generally classed 

 into two groups : 



1. Saccharine sorghums or sweet sorghums (Fig. 91). These 

 sorghums all have sweet, juicy stems and are grown for syrup making 

 or for forage. 



2. Non-saccharine sorghums (Figs. 92 and 93). This group has 

 a rather dry pith and very little sugar in the juice. These sorghums 

 are sometimes called the grain sorghums, and are sometimes divided 

 into three types as follows : 



(a) Kafir : Heads compact, erect. 



(&) Durra : Heads compact, pendent. 



(c) Broom corn type: Heads loose, spreading (Fig. 94). 



1 Estimated from 1909 Census. Separate figures are not given, as sor- 

 ghum is classed with " coarse forage," which class also includes corn fodder. 

 However, statistics from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture show 

 631,000 acres of sorghum forage out of a total of 653,000 acres of coarse 

 forage. In the five States growing sorghum as coarse forage (Nebraska. 

 Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico) there is about 2,000,000 acres 

 of coarse forage, and estimating 95- per cent to be sorghum gives above 

 figures. 



2 Estimated, see footnote to above table. 



