ANDROPOGON SORGHUM 199 



generally adopted that the present-day cultivated sorghums 

 can be divided into two groups, each of which had an 

 independent origin in Asia and Africa respectively. 



Environmental Relations. — Sorghums are of tropical 

 origin, and are more at home in regions with warm, sunshiny 

 summers. The plant will undergo high temperatures. It 

 is sensitive to low temperatures, and consequently cannot be 

 planted as early in the season as the other small cereals. 



The sorghums are either able to resist or to escape drought. 

 For this reason they have become one of the principal crops 

 on the non-irrigated lands of the West. Their resistance to 

 drought is due largely to their low water requirement, along 

 with their ability to roll the leaves with approaching dry 

 periods, and thus reduce the water-losing surface, and also 

 to their ability to remain ahve during a period of drought and 

 quickly resume growth when moisture is available. In this 

 last respect the sorghums differ from corn, for corn is unable 

 to remain in a dormant state for a very long time. The sor- 

 ghums are not as easily affected by hot winds as corn. 

 This is an important characteristic adapting them to the 

 semi-arid regions. 



Sorghums will grow on a variety of soils. They are some- 

 what more resistant to alkali salts than the other grain crops. 



Uses of Sorghums. — The saccharine or sweet sorghums 

 are grown for syrup and for forage. The juice is extracted 

 from the canes. The leading State in sorghum-syrup pro- 

 duction is Tennessee. The non-saccharine sorghums are 

 grown chiefly for their grain, but also for forage. The Chi- 

 nese and Manchus put the grain sorghums to a great variety 

 of uses. For example, a fermented drink is made from the 

 seed, the heads are used for fuel and brooms; the leaves for 

 fodder and for mats, the stalks for the construction of baskets, 

 fences, building material, laths, playthings, posts, thatchings. 



