THE ANNUAL GRASSES 233 



saccharine sorghums, unUke the sorgos, are grown princi- 

 pally for grain, and by many agronomists are grouped with 

 the cereals ; but because they are so closely related to the 

 forage and sirup sorghums, and because the cultural 

 methods of the two classes are so similar, they are dis- 

 cussed together in this chapter. The nonsaccharine or 

 grain sorghums are extensively grown in India, China, 

 and Africa. In the United States they are grown rather 

 extensively in the southern half of the Great Plains area, 

 which may be defined as the area lying between the Rocky 

 Mountains and a line drawn from Central Nebraska to 

 the Mexican border. This area will include western 

 Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and the portions of Colo- 

 rado and New Mexico that lie east of the Rocky Mountains. 

 The grain sorghums are particularly well adapted to this 

 area, which is noted for its low rainfall, which averages 

 about 20 inches annually, almost all of which falls between 

 the months of April and September. In this section of the 

 Great Plains area, the grain sorghums hold a place of 

 importance similar to that held by corn in the corn belt 

 states. They are able to grow and produce a profitable 

 crop of grain under conditions of rainfall that prohibit the 

 growing of corn or other grain crops. The total area 

 devoted to the growing of grain sorghums is approximately 

 as much as that devoted to the growing of rye, but the 

 area devoted to the former is not widely scattered over 

 many states as is the culture of rye. The grain sorghums 

 may be divided into two groups, namely, the kafirs and 

 the milos. 



233. Kafir. — The kafirs or kafir " corns " differ from 

 the sweet sorghums in that their stems are lower, short- 

 jointed, and stocky. They grow usually from five to eight 

 feet in height, having broader leaves than the sweet 



