388 



KAFIR AND DURRA 



KALE 



Uses and value. 



In Africa the grain of kafir is used as human 

 food. In the United States, however, it is little 

 used in this way, most of it being fed to stock, 

 either as grain or as forage. Working horses may- 

 be fed the grain threshed or in the head, but for 

 idle horses and colts better results can be obtained 

 by feeding grain and stalks together. The grain 



Fig. 582. Blackhull kaflr. Planted June 13 on flooded ground. 

 Photographed 101 days later. First rod of four rows here 

 shown averaged 79 stalks per row. Kansas. 



should be threshed and ground for feeding as a 

 fattening ration to cattle, but for dairy cows and 

 young stock the fodder may be used. The meal is 

 much used with skim-milk for feeding to calves. 

 For hogs, the grain should be ground and fed in 

 troughs, using water or skim-milk to moisten the 

 meal. Best results may be secured by feeding the 

 meal with alfalfa hay or skim-milk, or by feeding 

 when the hogs are on alfalfa pasture. For sheep, 

 the whole grain, ground grain, or fodder may be 

 used. The whole grain is excellent for poultry. 



The grain is similar in composition to corn, but 

 is slightly higher in starch content and lower in 

 protein. In feeding tests it has never been found 

 quite equal to corn. The fodder is considered equal 

 to corn stover. 



Care must be exercised in feeding the young 

 growth, as it has been found that prussic acid devel- 

 ops when the growth is checked. Under certain 

 conditions, young growths of all sorghams may be 

 poisonous. Frost and extreme drought are supposed 

 to develop the poison by checking the growth, 

 resulting in the action of an enzyme on a glucoside 

 normally present in the plant. 



Literature. 



Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 37 and 288, United States 

 Department of Agriculture ; Kansas Experiment 

 Station, Bulletins Nos. 56, 93, 127 ; Nebraska Ex- 

 periment Station, Bulletin No. 77 ; Oklahoma Ex- 

 periment Station, Bulletin No. 35. 



KALE FOR STOCK-FEEDING. Brassiea olera- 

 cea, var. aeephala, DC. Cruciferce. Figs. 583, 584. 



By H. W. Smith. 



The kales (or borecoles) are leafy, headless forms 

 of the cabbage species. Some of them are grown 

 in vegetable gardens for "greens." The purple and 

 curled-leaved kinds are very handsome plants. The 

 stock-feeding or forage kinds are mostly taller, 



with heavy, rank foliage. Kales are little grown 

 in this country for forage. It is doubtful whether 

 they will ever attain great prominence here. 



The thousand-headed kale furnishes a large quan- 

 tity of very nutritious fodder for fall and early 

 winter, helps to prolong the season for green fod- 

 der, is a good soiling crop, and partially replaces 

 silage in the early winter. It is hardier than most 

 varieties of the cabbage family and less subject to 

 disease and insects. In this respect it diifers from 

 the Scotch and curled varieties, which are really 

 kitchen-garden subjects. 



Culture. 



Kale will grow on any soil of normal fertility, 

 but it does best on warm, well-drained soils, such 

 as sandy loams. The application of manure and 

 fertilizer, especially nitrogenous fertilizer, will 

 profitably increase the yield on most soils. To get 

 the best results with the application of nitrates, 

 two or three applications should be made during 

 the season. Kale is a rank feeder, and does well 

 on land that has been heavily manured the pre- 

 vious season. 



The culture is similar to that of the large varie- 

 ties of cabbage (which see). At the North, for 

 garden use the plants may be started in the hotbed 

 and transferred to the coldframe, not only to 

 lengthen the growing season but to enable them to 

 escape the attacks of the cabbage root-maggot. The 

 plants should be set in rows three feet apart and 

 about two feet apart in the row, depending on the 

 variety. For forage, the seeds would need to be 

 planted directly in the field. Thorough cultivation 

 and clean culture during the early growth is essen- 

 tial, but later the plants cover the ground and 

 require no further 

 attention. 



Storing. 



The young plants 

 are sensitive to se- 

 vere frost, but the 

 old plants will with- 

 stand a heavy freeze. 

 Thus they can be left 

 in the field till win- 

 ter sets in and can 

 be kept through the 

 winter like cabbage. 

 The writer has found 

 the following method 

 of storing very satis- 

 factory with a small 

 quantity : Tight bar- 

 rels are filled with 

 the plants, which should either be run through a 

 cutter or be cut up partially with a sharp spade 

 so that they pack closely in the barrel. Salt is 

 sprinkled in with the plants, and when they are 

 thoroughly packed water is added to fill any spaces ; 

 the barrel is then covered. Kale thus packed will 

 be well preserved if kept cold. For feeding, they 

 would better be used green, as gathered from the 

 field, or else stored loosely in a shed. 



Fig. 583. 

 Thousand-headed kale. 



