154 SILAGE CROPS. 



the soy beans on top of the corn as it enters the silage cutter, 'n 

 the proportion of two, three, four or five parts of corn, as desired, 

 to one part of soy beans. The latter should be siloed when the 

 pods are well formed and the seeds are nearly grown. Of other 

 southern crops that are used for silage may be mentioned chicken 

 corn and teosinte. 



.Sorghums. — Sorghum crops, both saccharine and non- 

 saccharine (sweet and non-sweet), can be used for silage with good 

 results. The saccharine sorghums include the Arnber, Orange, 

 Sumac and Gooseneck groups. The non-saccharine varieties em- 

 brace the Kafir and White Milp groups, and the Dhoura group. 

 Their (Jrouth-resistant qualities have done much to make sorghum 

 the leading crop in the drier parts of the South and West — they 

 remain fresh and green through drouths that would ruin corn. 

 They are also less liable to be damaged by insects than corn. The 

 yield per acre of green sorghum will often reach 20 tons, or one- 

 half again as much as a good crop of corn. The Ottawa (Can.) 

 Station states that sorghum, where it can be grown, makes an 

 excellent crop for silage. It needs to be cut, the best length, as 

 in the case of corn, being about one-half inch. 



While the sorghums are adapted for growing on almost any 

 kind of soil they produce best on fairly heavy, well drained loams, 

 rich in humus; but when grown on gumbo, hard-pan, sandy or 

 other poor soils, they are more successful than most other crops. 



Sorghums usually yield well with little care. They are excel- 

 lent to plant on prairie sod or alfalfa sod. For silage, sorghum 

 should be planted in rows like corn and cultivated; in fact, the 

 crop is handled throughout like corn. 



In experiments at the Tennessee Station, A. M. Soule found that 

 "as fine a quality of silage can be made from sorghum as from 

 any other crop and there seems to be little choice between the 

 feeding values of sorghum and corn silage for beef production." 

 He states that "farmers who experience difficulty in making good 

 silage either cut the crops too green or else have improperly con- 

 structed silos." 



Sorghum, like corn, contains an excess of carbohydrates and is 

 somewhat deficient in protein. Its value is increased therefore by 

 the addition of some leguminous crop such as cow peas. 



Reports in the agricultural press indicate that many feeders 

 make a practice of combining their kafir, milo or sorghum in the 



