LUTHER BURBANK 



for syrup-making. It is known also as a forage 

 plant of very great value, and its stalks supply 

 fodder for the farm animals. 



It will be gathered from this that the sorghum 

 is a much less specialized product than the cane, 

 and that it retains its full vigor as a seed producer. 



Partly as a result of its cultivation in widely 

 different regions of the globe, and partly no doubt 

 through conscious and unconscious selection on 

 the part of its cultivators, the sorghum has devel- 

 oped many varieties, which are divided into three 

 quite distinct groups. 



One type of sorghum is the syrup-producer to 

 which we have just referred. 



The other type constitutes a very valuable 

 forage and grain-producing plant, not altogether 

 unlike Indian corn in general appearance, that is 

 almost devoid "of sugar. 



The third type resembles the others in some 

 respects, but the kernels are smaller and more 

 primitive in form, the plant being used for the 

 manufacture of brooms. 



My own work with the sorghums has included 

 a good many different varieties, but has chiefly 

 concerned the non-saccharine types, and, in par- 

 ticular, the one known as broom-corn. 



This is a variety of sorghum having long, slen- 

 der panicles of a specialized form, produced by 



[146] 



