KAFIR AND DURRA 



case it is seldom cultivated more than once, if at 

 all. Under these unfavorable conditions, a good 

 crop is frequently made. The crop requires 120 to 

 140 days in vsrhich to mature. 



Harvesting. 



The grain should be allowed to get fairly mature 

 before harvesting ; the stalks may be cut with the 

 corn-binder and shocked like corn, or the heads 

 may be removed from the standing stalks with a 

 header or a sharp knife. If cut in either of the 

 latter ways, they should be stored in small piles or 

 spread in thin layers until thoroughly cured, as the 

 grain heats readily if at all moist. After the heads 

 are removed, the stalks may be cut with the corn 

 binder for stover, or they may be pastured. If the 

 stalks are cut before heading, the heads may be 

 removed when the fodder is thoroughly cured by 

 laying the bundles on a block and cutting off the 

 heads with a sharp knife, broadaxe or saw. When 

 the heads are thoroughly dry, the grain may be 

 threshed out by running the heads through an 

 ordinary grain thresher. The grain may also be 

 threshed out while the heads are still on the 

 bundles, by inserting the ends of the bundles in 

 the thresher and withdrawing the stalks when the 

 grain is removed. The more improved separators 

 have a circular saw attached, which removes the 

 heads and drops them on the feeding table. If the 

 kafir is desired for seed, a part of the concaves 

 should be removed from the machine, to prevent 

 cracking the grain. A fair yield of grain is twenty 

 to forty bushels to the acre, although yields of 

 over one hundred bushels have been reported ; the 

 fodder crop ranges from one and one-half to four 

 tons to the acre. 



Ten Byck writes as follows on the harvesting of 

 kafir : "There are several ways of harvesting kafir, 

 the value of each method depending largely on how 

 the crop is planted, the condition of growth and 

 what is desired of the product. Where kafir is 

 grown on a large scale, as in some of the western 

 states, it is often harvested with a wheat header, 

 the heads being drawn directly to the thresher or 



KAFIR AND DURRA 



387 



piled in narrow ricks and threshed later. This, 

 perhaps, is the best way to handle the crop on a 

 large scale, if labor is costly and the fodder cannot 

 be used to advantage in the feed-lot. Kafir does 

 not need to be harvested at an exact time, as is 

 the case with many crops, as the leaves remain 

 green and the seed is retained for a considerable 

 time after it has matured. Some farmers have a 

 home-made implement for cutting the heads from 

 the standing crop in the field. This machine con- 

 sists essentially of a gear attached to the hind 

 wheel of the wagon and connected with kn upright 

 shaft, at the top of which, in a horizontal plane 

 and flush with the top of the wagon, a spindle 

 wheel revolves. The arms of this wheel catch the 

 kafir and draw it toward the edge of the wagon- 

 box, where a sharp knife is fixed so as to cut off 

 the heads, which fall into the wagon-box. There 

 are several machines made for heading kafir in the 

 field. They are simply attachments to any ordinary 

 wagon-bed something after the pattern of the 

 home-made attachment described above. 



"If the fodder is desired for feed, the crop 

 should be cut and shocked the same as corn. It is 

 usually satisfactory to use the ordinary corn har- 

 vester. Make the bundles small and do not tie them 

 too tightly. Place in small shocks (twelve to fifteen 

 bundles) so made that free ventilation will be 

 allowed underneath. The shock should be firmly 

 tied around the top to prevent the bundles falling 

 over, which they are very" likely to do, as nearly 

 all the weight is at the extreme top. The kafir may 

 be left in these small shocks until required for 

 feeding throughout the fall and winter. Good re- 

 sults have been secured by feeding kafir whole and 

 on the stalk, but it is considered preferable to feed 

 the grain and fodder separately." 



Composition. 



Kafir contains a higher percentage of starch 

 than maize, but less oil and protein. The following 

 table, giving the composition of kafir, is compiled 

 from Farmers' Bulletin No. 37, -of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture : 



Food Constituents in Kafir. 



