6 BULLETIN 383; U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTUEE, 



WHITE MILO. 



The exact origin of White milo is in doubt, but it seems probable 

 that the variety as it is now being grown in the United States origi- 

 nated from certain importations of sorghums from India. Several 

 sorghums very similar in character to the common Wliite milo were 

 included in a shipment received by the United States Department 

 of Agriculture in 1903, and it is easy to believe that such differences 

 as exist in the two forms may have come about through a process of 

 seed selection carried on by farmers. 



Fig. 4. — Second cutting .of tlie two new varieties of feterita at Cliillicothe, Tex., in 1914. 

 Dwarf feterita (at the left) and Improved feterita (at the right). The first cutting 

 was removed on July 25. Photographed October 15. 



In the early history of sorghums in this country the name White 

 milo, or more often " White milo maize," was associated wdth " Eural 

 Branching sorghum." This sorglium, however, from descriptions 

 and specimens preserved, proves to be a kafir rather than a milo. The 

 present strain, on the contrary, is a true milo, having the transverse 

 corrugations on the glume and other distinctive marks of the milo 

 group. True Wliite milo appears to have been grown locally in 

 northern Texas for several years, but its history in this locality is 

 vague. Seed of what appeared to be a dwarf strain of this true 

 "Wliite milo was obtained in 1911 by Mr. G. E. Thompson, at that 

 time superintendent of the Forage-Crop Field Station at Cliillicothe, 

 Tex. This strain (F. C. I., No. 5886) has been grown at that sta- 

 tion with good results since that time, but like the Dwarf feterita it 

 does not appear to maintain its dwarf characteristics without con- 

 tinued selection. 



