CLASSIFICATION OF SORGHUMS 245 



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

 the Census of 1909 and 1919 is as follows: 

 Acreage of Sorghums 



1919 1909 Increase per cent 



Grain sorghums * 5,031,000 1,635,000 207.7 



Sorghums for forage (includ- 

 ing both grain and sweet 



sorghums) 2 4,747,000 1,900,000 3 149.8 



Sorghums for syrup 1 487,000 370,000 31.6 



Broom corn x 352,000 326,000 7.9 



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

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



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 some- 

 times 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 Figures from Department of Agriculture Year-book. 



2 Figures from Summary of Agricultural United States census, 1919-20. 



3 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. 



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