801 



In the United States the grain Sorghums are usually planted^ 

 soon after corn [Maize], in rows 3-3| ft. apart, the plants 6-8 in. 

 apart for the Milos and Durras [Sorghum Durra] and 8-10 in^ 

 for the Kafirs [S, caffroritm], the amount of seed required,. 

 3-5 lb. per acre (Montgomery, The Corn Crops, p. 317);. 

 Sorghum for forage is sown thick in drills about 3 ft, apart and 



o 

 w 



Avith 



the rate of about 15 lb. of seed per acre in rows or 1-2 bushels- 

 per acre, broadcast (I.e. p. 321). 25-30 bushels of seed and 

 3-6 tons of cured fodder per acre is an average yield (L.c, p, 323). 

 Some uncertainty attaches to the genus as a fodder and 

 cases of poisoning have been recorded when pa,stured or used- 

 in a green state. There seems to be considerable difference of 

 opinion as to the exact stage at which there is danger of 

 poisoning but it is generally allowed that the green plant is not 

 aafe for feeding until it is at or near the flowering period and- 

 that the poisonous effects of young green Sorghum is due to th& 

 formation of prussic acid and various hypotheses have been 

 put forward — based on climatic conditions, variety, nitrogert 

 content in the soil, insect attack, etc. — ^for a discussion of wliich. 

 it may be advisable to see the following papers [" Sorghum 

 halepense " in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, vi. part 3, 1893, 

 p. 281; "Poisoning of Cattle by the Juar Plant; through the- 

 large deposits of Nitrate of Potash that under certain conditions- 

 are thrown down in the Stems," Pease, Agric. Ledger, No. 24,. 

 1896, pp. 1-5; " Cyanogenesis in Plants," Part 2 " Great Millet- 

 {Sorghum vnlgare)/' Dunstan & Henry in Trans. Roy. Soc^ 

 cxc. 1902, p. 399, and Proc. Roy. Soc. Ixx. 1902, pp, 153-154; 

 " Sorghum Poisoning," Burtt-Davy, in Transvaal Agric. Journ, 

 iii. Jan. 1905, pp. 308-309; "Notice sur I'eifet Proteeteur 

 Assigne a I'acide Cyanhydrique des Plantes," Treub, in Annales> 

 du Jardin du Buitenzorg, xxi. 1907, p. 107 ; " Sorghum — Poisonous- 

 Property," Watt in Comm. Prod. India, pp. 1040-1041;: 

 " Sorghum Poisoning," Cameron, in Journ. Agric. Victoria, vi^ 

 1908, pp. 161-162; "Green Sorghum Poisoning," in West 

 Indian BuU. iii. 1902, pp. 326-333; "The Poisonous Properties 

 of Immature Sorghum," in Bull. Imp. Inst- viii. 1910, pp. 384— 

 388; "Sorghum Poisoning," in Agric. Gaz. N.S. Wales, xxii, 

 Nov. 1911, pp. 967-968 — Reprint in Agric. News, Barbados, xi. 

 Jan. 20th 1912, p. 21; "Prussic Acid Content of Sorghum " in 

 Agric. News, Barbados, xiv. June 19th, 1915, p. 201, from 

 Journal of Agricultural Research, May 1915; " Cattle Poisoning: 

 by Juar {Andropogon Sorghum) and its Prevention," Taylor &. 

 Ghosh, in Agric. Journ. India, xi. Oct. 1916, pp. 377-383]. 



Bef. — Report on Analytical and Other Work done on Sorghum 

 and Corn Stalks by the Chemical Division, Collier, U.S. Dept„ 

 Agric. Special Report No. 33, 1881, pp. 1-101, with Synoptical 

 Table and 13 plates of varieties " Liberian " (syn. " Imphee,"' 

 ' Sumac," or " Chinese Cane "), " Neezeana," " Wolf Tail'"' 

 " Gray Top," " White Mammoth," " Rice or Egyptian Corn,'' 



