284 CORN CROPS 



easily extracted by crushing and pressing. An ordinary 

 roller cane press will extract 50 to 60 per cent of the juice. 



Not all juicy sorghums are sweet, but practically all 

 the very juicy varieties are. The sugar content of the 

 juice in sweet sorghums varies from 10 to 18 per cent. 



Leaves. — The leaves of the sorghums are strong and 

 are especially well adapted to withstand the rather dry 

 and often hot winds that prevail in semiarid regions. 

 In periods of protracted drought the leaves assume a 

 rather erect position, rolhng together to a considerable 

 degree in a way that appears to protect against exces- 

 sive evaporation. All the very drought-resistant forms, 

 as the Milo and Durra types, are rather scanty-leaved; 

 the leaves being about eight to ten in number, rather 

 broad and short, and rather coarse in texture. 



Tillers. — All varieties of sorghum seem to produce 

 tillers abundantly. These appear at the lower joints of 

 the stem. The buds that develop into tillers may re- 

 main more or less dormant when conditions for growth are 

 unfavorable, ready, however, to develop at the first favor- 

 able opportunity. Fertile soil and thin planting favor 

 their development. Certain varieties, however, seem to 

 produce two or more tillers normally, the tillers starting 

 almost as soon as the main stem, and it is onlj^ under the 

 very thickest planting that they are suppressed. 



It sometimes occurs, when the first part of the season is 

 dry and unfavorable, that the main stem may become 

 stunted ; if late rains come, the tillers will often grow much 

 taller than the main stalk. The tillers are later in matur- 

 ing and are considered undesiralile when the crop is 

 grown for grain or sirup ; but they are usually desirable 

 when the crop is grown for forage, as they no doubt in- 

 crease the yield of fodder. 



