Cultivation of Sorghum. 37 



The following extracts are from the correspondence of some ot the most 

 experienced and intelligent cane growers throughout the country. We 

 would be glad to have reports and suggestions from every such in regard to 

 the cultivation of Sorghum, harvesting, seed, fodder, etc., and to give 

 a summary of the same in our next edition. 



SEED, FODDER, &c. 



Griddle Oakes. — "For griddle-cakes it is nearly equal to buckwheat, and 

 mixed equally with buckwheat no difference could be detected. For ginger-cakes it is 

 excellent. As feed for cattle, horses and hogs it has no equal. There is no grain 

 that will make a horse gain in flesh faster. For milch-cows a farmer cannot estimate 

 its value till he has tried it. It is especially valuable for young stock and calves 

 and for hogs. I know that it is worth more per bushel than corn ; and when I say 

 more, I mean that there is a great diff'erence." 



Feed. — " In the spring of 1881 we killed a hog that had been fattened on cane- 

 seed. The meat was as hard and ,sweet as I ever tasted. This hog was fed on nothing 

 but cane seed and water, yet it took on flesh faster than any hog I ever fed. Some 

 farmers complain of the expense of harvesting it. Now, does it pay to pick up an ear ' 

 of corn after it is husked and thrown on the ground? One head of cane. seed will 

 yield as much feed as an average sized ear." 



Pood. — " I have seen many questions regarding the use of cane seed flour for 

 griddle cakes, that can be fully answered from the experience of this company. Cane 

 seed is worth more for flour than for anything else. It is a great improvement on 

 buckwheat, as it is finer food and more nutritious. We own a large flouring mill and 

 have given the question a thorougjh test, both in 1881 and 1882. The flour is put up in 

 12-pound sacks, and retailed by our grocers at 50 cents per sack (same as buckwheat 

 floiir). We have also mixed it with oats and ground it up into chop-feed. It is as 

 good as com for feed." 



Seed. — "The value of the crop (sorghum) is considered to be mainly in the 

 sugar; but the seed is found to be about equal to Indian corn in feeding value; and the 

 crop per acre is not less than that of other common cereals. There are no good feeding 

 experiments to show what may be the value of stalks from which the juice has been 

 extracted. The field for enterprise in this direction is a large and inviting one. 



There is no difficulty in saving the seed, as the heads can lie upon the ground a 

 long time, unless there is an excessive amount of rain. The heads can be drawn and 

 spread on the barn floor, or, what would be better, arranged on racks in a shed like 

 broom corn. Some bind the heads in bundles and stand them on end in the field, like 

 bundles of wheat, to dry." 



Leaves. — "It will be seen that leaves have a composition which shows them to 

 be of very great nutritive value; and, as fodder, they are well worth preserving when- 

 ever one strips his cane for the mill. Indeed, their value is such, that, if carefully 

 preserved, they would easily repay the cost of stripping. 



It appears then, that the leaves of the sorghums have a higher nutritive ratio than 

 our grasses or hay, and there is present in them, when dried with care, a large per- 

 centage of sugars and albumenoids, two of the most important constituents of animal 

 food." 



Culture. — "I prefer shocking the cane as fast as it is cut, and allowing it to stand 

 ten or twelve days before it is worked. Never heard of cane injuring in shocks, even 

 when made very large, say five or six hundred pounds in each. If put into buildings, 

 laid horizontally in large heaps, it will heat. Think this is the most unsafe way of 

 storing cane. I set it up as it is cut, on the ground, butts down. The clay and dirt 

 adhering to the ends do no harm. Freezing ripe cane in the shock does not injure 

 it. The syrup may be a little darker, but the taste is not affected. Green cane is 

 greatly injured by freezing. I cut and .shock when the majority of the heads are ripe. 

 In topping Sorgho, cut off from two to three feet, not quite so much from Imphee. 

 Don't strip the cane until ready to grind. Shocked my cane last season on the nth of 

 October, and it remained four weeks before being worked. Not so much labor to 

 work cane that has been shocked ; less time and fuel required to evaporate, and less 

 labor and loss in skimming ; but the rolls of the mill will require to be set closer. If 

 cane is green and ground too close, the crude sap from' the rind and joint is pressed 

 out, injuring the taste of the syrup. When cane is shocked, the fodder cures and is all 



