THE SORGHUM PLANT 285 



When sorghum plants are cut off, tillers usually spring 

 up at once. In the South two crops, and even three 

 crops, may be cut from the same roots. In regions of 

 very mild winters the roots of certain varieties will live 

 over, giving a crop the second year. 



Branches. — Branches come from latent buds on the 

 upper part of the stem as tillers do from the lower nodes. 

 The same conditions that favor tillering favor the 

 development of branches. The first branch appears 

 from the topmost node, the second from the next, and so 

 on down, in order ; under very favorable conditions and 

 thin planting, four or five branches may develop. Each 

 branch bears a small head, similar to the main head but 

 later in maturing. 



Branches are considered undesirable, and the usual 

 plan is to plant the sorghum thick enough so that there 

 will be neither tillering nor branching. 



Roots. — The Kansas station made a stud}^ of Kafir 

 corn and sweet sorghum roots in comparison with corn and . 

 other field crops. The roots of Kafir corn were found to be 

 finer and more fibrous than corn roots under the same con- 

 ditions. A few of the longer Kafir roots penetrated to a 

 depth of 3 feet, but most of them were confined to the 

 upper 18 inches, filling the soil to this depth with a fine 

 network of roots ; while corn under the same conditions 

 fully occupied the upper 30 inches with roots (see Fig. 12, 

 page 27), sending its deepest roots about 4 feet. The 

 sweet sorghum roots were somewhat intermediate in char- 

 acter, but resembled the Kafir more than the corn roots. ^ 



The distribution of roots indicates that the sorghums 

 draw their nutrients from the surface soil much more 

 than corn. 



1 Kans. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 127, pp. 207-208. 1904. 



