GROWING CULTIVATED CROPS IN DRY AREAS 287 



quarters it has been greatly over-rated. None of the 

 sorghums have been found equal in all-round adapta- 

 bility to sweet sorghum, Milo maize and Kafir corn. 



Soils. All the sorghums will grow well on the aver- 

 age soils of the bench land country and also of the river 

 valleys when irrigated. But all of these do muchJbetter 

 on loam soils than on stiff clays and on light lands. The 

 ability to grow them in good form on bench lands that 

 will grow crops of grain need not for one moment be 

 questioned. On alkali soils they will grow as well or 

 better than most crops, but the degree of the alkali 

 present will, of course, have an important bearing on the 

 results. 



Place in the rotation. The place in the rotation for 

 the sorghums is not far different from the place assigned 

 to corn (see p. 270). They grow especially well on sod 

 land properly prepared. They follow grain crops rather 

 than the bare-fallow, as in the case of corn ; they pre- 

 pare the land for a grain crop when cultivation is given 

 to them while they are growing. They draw more 

 heavily on the moisture near the surface than corn, and 

 this is so far adverse to the growth of grain where mois- 

 ture is lacking. The natural order is,, however, that 

 grain crops will follow. Where the moisture is not too 

 much lacking, they may alternate from year to year. 



Preparing the soil. The seed bed for all the sor- 

 ghums should be deep, fine and moist, loose above and 

 firm below. A cloddy seed bed is specially objectionable, 

 since it is unfavorable to germination, which is natur- 

 ally somewhat weak in the seed of all the sorghums. 

 To insure such a seed bed, it may be necessary to use a 

 planker or a roller when preparing the ground. 



Stubble land should usually be plowed in the fall, 

 and discing may frequently be helpful previous to the 

 plowing. If the land is not plowed until the spring, it 

 should be at once packed. The harrow should then keep 



