44 



Much difference of opinion existed at first, and still exists, as to the 

 best time of cutting so as to get the largest amount of good syrup. Some 

 assert it should be harvested when the seeds are in the milky state, others 

 when they are fully matured. A slight degree of frost does not injure it, 

 and this has caused the loss of many a crop, for whenever it freezes, fer- 

 mentation ensues, and it will not make syrup at all; or if it does it is 

 black and has a disagreeable odor. But repeated experiments have dem- 

 onstrated the fact that early cut cane makes the best and cleanest 

 molasses. 



AS A FORAGE AND SOILING CROP But it is rather as a for- 

 age crop that the methods of cultivating and curing this plant properly 

 belong in this bulletin. Its uses are almost as various as those of Indian 

 corn itself. As has already been stated, it is greedily eaten in all stages by 

 stock of every kind. The seeds are abundant and one acre of good sor- 

 ghum will make from forty to sixty bushels of seed. The heads can be 

 cut from the stalks and stored for use, taking care to spread them out until 

 they are dry, when they make good food for cattle, horses, sheep, hogs 

 and poultry. When ground into flour they make good bread. Both 

 the seeds and the expressed juice have been extensively used in distilla- 

 tion, large quantities of alcohol and sorghum brandy being annually made 

 from them. During the civil war it formed almost the only resource of 

 the South for whisky, all other kinds of grain being in too much demand 

 for distillers to use them. 



But probably it possesses more good qualities as a green soiling 

 plant than any other. Let it be sown on good land, either broadcast or 

 thickly drilled with a seed drill, from April to July, with about one bushel 

 of seed to the acre, and the amount of forage will be immense. It will 

 yield from 20 to 30 tons of green fodder to the acre, which, when dry, 

 will make four to six tons of the sweetest and best of hay, and stock will 

 eat up the last vestige of it. 



HARVESTING AND CURING The most difficult thing in con- 

 nection with the growing of sorghum for hay, is to cure it properly. 

 When sown broad-cast upon a rich soil using three bushels or more of 

 seed per acre or when drilled with a wheat drill using a like amount of 

 seed, it makes such a rank growth that it is a troublesome task to cut and 

 save it. If the seed is sown thick enough so that the stalks will be small, 

 the crop may be cut with a mower. If the stalks are large, a corn knife 

 will have to be used or a corn harvester. Some farmers use the self- 

 binder in cutting the crop but in this case the height of the stalks must 

 not be over five or six feet. 



The proper time for cutting is when the heads begin to flower. Then 

 it should be cut and bundled as corn fodder, or it may be left spread on 

 the ground; if the weather is good, for several days, and it will be dry 

 enough to store but not in too large a bulk. Its stems are so full of 

 juices that it will not cure quickly. The juices in it, however, will sugar 

 in a few days when it will keep as well as timothy. It possesses fattening 

 qualities in an eminent degree and nothing like it was ever used for im- 

 proving a drove of mules. If the farmer has a drove of mules or herd of 

 cattle or milch cows or flock of sheep it can be fed to them from the time 



