SORGHUM 



SORGHUM 



579 



tributed by the Georgia Department of Agricul- 

 ture and by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture from 1886 to 1889. The seed of the 

 Red variety was apparently not distributed for 

 about ten years, when it was sent to Mr. A. A. 

 Denton, in Kansas. 



KEY TO VARIETIES 



A. Seeds white : 



Glumes greenish white or some 



darker 1. White kafir 



Glumes black or nearly so : 

 Stalks 5-6 feet tall ; inter- 

 nodes much shorter 

 than the (overlapping) 



sheaths 2. BlackhuU kafir 



Stalks 7-10 feet tall ; inter- 

 nodesequaling or 

 longer than the sheaths 3. Old kafir 

 AA. Seeds red ; glumes deep red to 



black 4. Red kafir 



Description of varieties. — Old kafir differs from 

 the others in the greater height, 7-9 feet, caused 

 by longer internodes, and hence in having the 

 leaves not crowded. It is also a later variety. It 

 has been on the market for many years under such 

 names as Rural Branching Sorghum, African mil- 

 let. White milo and others. By some it is thought 

 to be the form from which BlackhuU kafir has 

 been derived. 



White kafir is distinguished by the pale glumes 

 and the heads usually not fully exserted from the 

 sheaths. BlackhuU kafir, now the most promising 

 variety, is marked by the black glumes, and heads 

 almost always fully exserted. Red kafir is very 

 similar to the White and the BlackhuU except in 

 the red seeds and the longer, slenderer heads. [See 

 Kafir and Durra, pages 384-388.] 



V. Durra. 



Description. — Stems medium to stout, 4-7 feet 

 tall, i to IJ inches in diameter; nodes 8-11, aver- 

 aging 9 ; internodes usually shorter than the 

 sheaths, sometimes equaling them ; pith dry to 

 semi-juicy, not sweet ; leaves broad and short ; 

 peduncle stout, recurved or sometimes erect ; pani- 

 cles compact, ovate or broadly elliptical, mostly 

 pendent, sometimes erect or inclined; spikelets very 

 broad, obovate or rhomboid, awned or awnless ; 

 seeds large, flattened, lenticular or subglobose. 



History. — The durras have been cultivated since 

 historic times as sources of human and animal 

 food. They are found abundantly today in north- 

 ern Africa, southwestern Asia and India. Some 

 were brought from Mediterranean regions to 

 America in early colonial days, but only sparingly 

 cultivated. The White durra and the Brown durra 

 at present cultivated in this country were intro- 

 duced from Egypt into California in 1874 and 

 known as White and Brown Egyptian corn, respec- 

 tively. Yellow milo is of Egyptian origin, but the 

 circumstances of its introduction are not known. 

 The BlackhuU durra, only sparingly found in this 

 country, is either an importation from India or, as 



is certainly true in some cases, a hybrid between 

 BlackhuU kafir and White durra. 



KEY TO VARIETIES 

 A. Seeds white : 



Glumes greenish white, silky ; 

 seeds much flattened, len- 

 ticular; floret awned . . 1. White durra 



Glumes black, scarcely hairy ; 

 seeds smaller, less flat- 

 tened, rare 2. BlackhuU durra 



AA. Seeds yellowish, reddish or red- 

 dish brown : 



Glumes short, transversely 

 wrinkled,reddish to black, 

 not silky ; seeds yellowish 

 brown ; florets awned . . 3. YellOw milo 



Glumes as long as the seeds, 

 greenish white, silky ; 

 seeds reddish brown ; not 

 awned 4. Brown durra 



Description of varieties. — Except in color of 

 seeds and glumes, these varieties are very similar. 

 White durra and Brown durra are most closely 

 related, differing only in the color of the seed and 

 the presence or the absence of the awn. Yellow 

 milo, now a very important crop, differs in the 

 much shorter, transversely wrinkled glumes and 

 the less flattened seeds. All three of these durras 

 have fewer leaves than the kafir varieties. The 

 stalks are less juicy and the juice less sweet. The 

 pendent, or goosenecked heads of all three and the 

 easily shattered seeds of White durra and Brown 

 durra put them at a disadvantage in comparison 

 with the kafirs. The seed of Yellow milo does not 

 shatter, and this variety has now become a staple 

 crop in western Texas, Oklahoma and adjacent 

 sections. It is there commonly know as Dwarf 

 milo, owing to its small size in that dry and ele- 

 vated region. [See Kafir and Durra, pages 384- 

 388.] 



Literature. 



C. C. Georgeson, Kafir Corn, Characteristics, 

 Culture and Uses, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 37 (1896); H. 

 M. Cottrell, D. H. Otis, and J. G. Haney, Kafir 

 Corn, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Bulletin No. 93 (1900); Thomas Shaw, Forage 

 Crops Other Than Grasses, Chapters III and IV, 

 Orange Judd Company (1902) ; Same, Soiling Crops 

 and the Silo, Chapters III and IV, Orange Judd 

 Company (1902); C. P. Hartley, Broom-corn, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin No. 174 (1903); Thomas F. Hunt, The Cereals 

 in America, Chapter XXVI, Orange Judd Company 

 (1904); Carleton R. Ball, Saccharine Sorghums 

 for Forage, United Stated Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 246 (1906); C. W. War- 

 burton, The Non-saccharine Sorghums, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 288 (1907); A. A. Denton, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 90 and 135, 

 Sorghum Syrup Manufacture ; H. W. Wiley, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chem- 



