384 



HOPS 



KAFIR AND DURRA 



is an interesting example of how an insect, ordi- 

 narily not serious, may cause the total destruction 

 of a crop. The presence of the aphis and the prev- 

 alence of the mold seem to have some connection 

 with each other. Spraying with whale-oil soap, 

 kerosene emulsion, strong soap-suds or a tobacco 

 solution is effective ; but this treatment is not 

 practiced in New York. 



Value and cost. 



Hops are generally sold directly to representa- 

 tives of jobbers. They are remarkable above all 

 other agricultural products for wide and violent 

 fluctuations in prices. In 1882, hops were sold 

 by growers for at least one dollar and twenty-five 

 cents per pound, and at other times they have 

 been almost without a quotable value. The gen- 

 eral estimate of the cost of growing and harvest- 

 ing is about ten to twelve cents per pound, of 

 which harvesting is one-half. For the five years 

 ending with 1904, the price of "choice" New York 

 state hops in New York city, as quoted in the 

 trade journals, ranged between twelve and one-half 

 and forty-one cents per pound, these years repre- 

 senting a comparatively stable and prosperous 

 period of the industry. 



Hop-growing requires a considerable investment 

 and working capital. The main items of expense 

 are the hop-house, poles, twine, wire (when the 

 trellis system is used), fuel, sulfur and baling cloth. 

 A large force of dependable labor is required dur- 

 ing the harvest season, although thousands of itin- 

 erant workers of varying degrees of worth drift 

 into the hop districts during this time. 



Literature. 



. Myrick, The Hop : Its Culture and Care, Market- 

 ing and Manufacture, Orange Judd Co., New York 

 city ; Hop Culture in California, Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 115, United States Department of Agriculture ; 

 Hops, Nevada Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 35. 



KAFIR AND DURRA. Andropogon Sorghum, 



Brot., or Sorghum vulgare, Pers. Graminew. 



Figs. 577-582. 



Strong- growing plants, somewhat resembling 

 corn, used for forage and for the grain which is 

 borne in the panicle or head. They belong to the 

 same species as broom-corn and the sweet or syrup 

 sorghums (not sugar-cane), but differ in the less 

 saccharine juice and also in characters of the head 

 and seed. [See article on Sorghum for further 

 botanical discussion and classification, and also for 

 comparative economic notes.] 



Although belonging to the same species, kafir 

 and durra represent two groups, quite as distinct 

 as dent corn and flint corn. The methods of culti- 

 vation and handling, however, are very similar, and 

 they are therefore treated in a single article to 

 avoid much repetition. The kafir group includes 

 three varieties : White, Blackhull and Red kafirs, 

 with small oval spikelets in erect, cylindrical heads. 

 The durra group includes three varieties also : 

 Yellow milo (usually known merely as "milo"). 

 Brown durra and White durra, the last often called 



Jerusalem corn, rice corn or White Egyptian corn. 

 These are characterized by compact, ovate or ellip- 

 tical heads, mostly pendent or goosenecked, and 

 large, obovate or nearly round spikelets. 



Unfortunately, there is no one common name 

 that can be used generically for these maize-like 

 plants. " Kafir " is apparently becom- 

 ing popular, but it is loosely used. 

 These plants are botanically all sor- 

 ghums, but with farmers 

 the word "sorghum" is 

 understood to mean the 

 syrup -producing kinds. 

 Sorghums are of two 

 kinds, — the sweet or sac- 

 charine, and the non-sac- 

 charine. The non-sac- 

 charine sorghums are the 

 kafirs, durras and broom- 

 corn. The common word 

 "corn" has been trans- 

 ferred from maize or In- 

 dian corn to these kafirs 

 and durras in some re- 

 gions, and confusion has 

 resulted. For this rea- 

 son, the compound word 

 "kafir-corn" is not used 

 in this article, and it 



Fig. 578. 



Typical head of 



Red kaflr. 



would seem to be advisa- 

 ble to discourage its use 

 generally. Furthermore, 

 the word maize itself has been transferred from the 

 true maize or Indian corn to some of these plants 

 as a contraction of "milo maize." The farmers 

 of western Texas, and probably of other parts, 

 reported "milo maize" as "maize" to the Census 

 of 1900. It is said that a considerable part of 

 the "milo maize" crop was thus reported as 

 "maize." In this article, and subsequently in this 

 Cyclopedia, the word milo will be used for " milo 

 maize." 



The kafirs come from Natal and the coast region 

 of east-central Africa, and the name kafir has come 

 with them. Although originally a proper name, it 

 now becomes a common class-name and must lose 

 its connection with a locality or a people ; there- 

 fore it is treated here as a common-language term 

 by being printed without a capital initial. Peach 

 is a comparable instance ; also timothy, and other 

 words. Two varieties of kafir were exhibited by 

 the Natal government at the Centennial Exposi- 

 tion at Philadelphia in 1876. At least one of 

 them was secured by the State Department of 

 Agriculture of Georgia, and was grown and 

 selected for several years by Dr. J. H. Watkins, 

 and was distributed by the Georgia Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, from which the United 

 States Department of Agriculture early secured 

 the seed. 



The durras come from northern Africa, from 

 Morocco to Egypt ; also from southwestern Asia, 

 from Arabia to Turkestan. The durras are much 

 less grown than the kafirs. In Egypt, the word 

 which is here rendered as durra (rendered by others 



