120 FORAGE CROPS 
rather hard on a machine and somewhat expensive. 
The ordinary method is to cut with a mower, and 
the crop should be left to cure well before raking. 
Ordinarily, in the middle and western part of 
Kansas, after being cut and raked, it is put into 
large shocks or small ricks containing from a ton 
to three tons each. This is done with a hay-gath- 
erer, “buck-rake” or “go-devil,” and saves a great 
deal of handling. It keeps in excellent condition 
when treated this way, and can be hauled when 
needed. Under ordinary conditions kafir corn will 
be ready to harvest for hay in about 105 days after 
planting, and this should be before frost, as freez- 
ing while green is detrimental; besides, the hay 
will not cure as well in cool weather, and it is 
essential that it be as perfectly cured as possible. 
Yield of grain in kafir corn 
The yield of grain will range from twenty to 
ninety bushels per acre, with an average of about 
forty-five bushels in eastern Kansas; in the 
western and drier parts of Kansas it is smaller, 
though there the difference in yield between kafir 
corn and Indian corn is proportionately greater 
than in the eastern parts. At. the Kansas Sta- 
tion the average yield of kafir corn for eleven 
years was forty-six bushels per acre, while for 
Indian corn it was thirty-four and five-tenths 
