340 



FIELD CROPS 



quality from sorghum juice, but the process is too expensive 

 to make it commercially profitable. The production of 

 sorghum sirup has decreased rapidly in recent years, owing 

 to the manufacture of glucose and other sirups. In Kansas, 

 where 500,000 acres of forage sorghum are grown annually, 



only 13,000 acres are 

 used for sirup pro- 

 duction. 



432. Varieties. 

 The principal vari- 

 ety of sorghum 

 grown in the North 

 is Amber, an early- 

 maturing, compara- 

 tively small sort 

 with an open, 

 spreading panicle, 

 shining black 

 glumes, and reddish- 

 yellow seeds. The 

 seeds are almost en- 

 tirely included with- 

 in the glumes, so 

 that the apparent 

 color of the head is 

 black. The Orange, 

 a somewhat later 

 variety with lighter- 

 colored glumes and a more compact panicle, is less 

 grown now than formerly. In the South, the most popular 

 and productive variety is Sumac or Redtop, with a 

 compact head, red seeds, and very short dark red or 

 black glumes. The red seeds protrude from between the 



Fig. 105. The spreading panicle of Amber sor- 

 ghum, the best early variety for the North. 



