52 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



about five to six feet. Since it does not grow so 

 tall as many of the varieties of corn, nor so tall as 

 sorghum, or Milo maize, it is more easily handled 

 than these in the sheaf when fully grown. The 

 leaves are long and large and fairly numerous, but 

 not markedly abundant. ■ It throws up a single spike 

 which bears a head in which the seeds are closely 

 packed. The head is fully six inches long and three 

 inches broad and stands erect, or nearly so. Large 

 yields of seed are obtained, and when ground its 

 feeding value for the various classes of farm stock 

 is nearly equal to that of corn. The plants are but 

 little liable to break down with the wind. They 

 have extraordinary power to grow under dry condi- 

 tions and to retain succulence in the leaves and stems 

 even after the seed has matured. The leading 

 varieties of Kaffir corn are the red and the white. 

 The red matures earlier than the white, but the latter 

 would seem to produce more seed. The red variety 

 is better adapted than the white to states north from 

 where the most suitable conditions exist for growing 

 Kaffir corn. 



Milo maize (Sorghwn vnlgare or Aiidropogon 

 sorghiiui, var.) is a vigorous growing plant. In the 

 tests made at the Minnesota university experiment 

 station in 1897-98, the plants attained an average 

 hight of about eight feet. The leaves are large, and 

 from the center of the stalk upward they are quite 

 numerous. Each stalk wlien matured is surmounted 

 by a large head which bears seed profuselv. This 

 head has an average length of about six inches and 

 an average diameter of about four inches. When 

 the head first appears it is erect, but when matured 



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