THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS 395 



throughout the grain-sorghum belt under such misleading 

 names as "Egyptian wheat/' " California wheat," "Mexi- 

 can wheat," and others. The seed of this crop has been 

 widely advertised by uninformed seed growers and sold at 

 exorbitant prices. Experiments conducted by the Office 

 of Forage Crop Investigation of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture indicate that shallu is inferior to kafir 

 and milo for grain production and less valuable for forage 

 than the sorgos. 



489. Kowliang. This distinct group of grain-produc- 

 ing sorghums was recently introduced into the United 

 States from northeast China and the adjacent territory 

 of Manchuria by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture to fill the demand for an early ripening grain- 

 sorghum. Tests have shown the kowliangs to be very good 

 grain producers but of little value for forage. In the greater 

 portion of the grain-sorghum belt they are less valuable 

 than milo or kafir. By careful selection it is probable 

 that the kowliangs can be made the basis of important 

 grain crops for the northern part of the Great Plains 

 where early maturing varieties are so essential. 



490. Broom-corn (Fig. 70) . This is a non-saccharine 

 sorghum of practically no value for forage, although the 

 matured seed is valuable as a poultry and stock food. The 

 crop is grown almost entirely for the elongated branches 

 of the seed-head which are used in the manufacture of 

 brooms. 



The origin of broom-corn is not known. It had its first 

 general culture in Italy. As sorghums have been culti- 

 vated in Italy for more than eighteen centuries, it has 

 been suggested that broom-corn has probably been de- 

 rived by selection from a variety of sweet sorghum having 

 long branches and a shortened rachis. 



