252 SORGHUMS 



For forage, sorghum is either grown in wide rows, as mentioned, 

 with the plants very thickly in the row, or it is sown broadcast or is 

 drilled thickly with a grain drill. 



Rate of Seeding. Four to six pounds of seed per acre is suf- 

 ficient to give a good stand in rows forty-two inches apart. Or- 

 dinarily the plants are spaced about four to six inches in the row, 

 but in very dry regions ten inches apart is often preferred. The 

 amount of seed is also regulated by size, as the seeds of the Durra 

 group are about twice the size of sweet sorghum or broom corn. 



Time of Seeding. Sorghum is more tender than corn and is 

 usually planted after corn-planting. Planting is often deferred, 

 however, until quite late, just so it has time to mature before frost. 

 However, in the southern States an insect known as the sorghum 

 midge attacks late-sown sorghum, destroying the seed, and very 

 early planting is desirable whenever the midge is present. 



Planting and Cultivation. The same tools are used in planting 

 and cultivating as for corn. Special plates for sorghum seed are 

 used in the planter. In cultivation, more care is required the first 

 time over as the plants are small and slow in growth for the first 

 few weeks. 



Harvesting Grain Sorghums. Grain sorghums are harvested 

 in three ways: (1) with the corn binder; (2) when dwarf varieties 

 are grown, the grain binder may be used ; (3) the heads may be cut 

 off by hand. In the latter case the heads from several rows may be 

 thrown together on the ground to cure, or a wagon may be driven 

 alongside and the heads thrown as cut directly into the wagon- 

 box. When the heads are well cured the sorghum is threshed in an 

 ordinary grain thresher. 



Yield of Grain Sorghums. The average yield of grain 

 sorghums varies from twelve to twenty bushels per acre. Forty 

 bushels per acre is considered a good crop, while crops of seventy 

 bushels are occasionally reported. 



As compared with Indian corn, grain sorghum will not yield as 

 well in regions having twenty-five to thirty inches annual rainfall, 

 but in drier regions grain sorghum will make a fair crop when corn 

 is a complete failure. The region of grain sorghum culture there- 

 fore lies just outside of the corn belt. 



