46 FORAGE CROPS IN NEBRASKA. 



than any other succulent forage crop and gives large yields of excel- 

 lent hay. Sorghum may be used for soiling and for pasture, but its 

 most important use is for cured fodder or hay. For this purpose it 

 may be sown thickly and mowed with a mowing machine. The hay 

 is succulent and requires some time for curing, but in the drier por- 

 tions of Nebraska it can be thrown into bunches or cocks and allowed 

 to remain until cured. 



Kafir corn, a variety of nonsaccharine sorghum, is also quite drought 

 resistant and is frequently grown for forage, but under the same con- 

 ditions the sorghum gives a greater yield of fodder. Sorghum can 

 also be planted in rows and cultivated. The forage can then be gath- 

 ered "by cutting and shocking, preferably with a corn harvester. The 

 ordinary sugar sorghums, such as Early Amber, Colman, and Orange, 

 are used -for this region. Sorghum is frequently referred to as 

 "cane." 



Other races of sorghum are milo maize, Jerusalem corn, and 

 dhoura, but in Nebraska none of these is equal to sorghum for fodder. 



Sorghum was tested in the series of pasture tests already mentioned 

 (Bulletin 69 of the Nebraska Experiment Station), as were also white 

 Kafir corn and milo maize. One-fifth acre of sorghum gave twenty- 

 five days' pasturage and was, along with rye, one of the crops giving 

 the greatest quantity of forage. Some experiments were also tried 

 with sorghum for soiling, which indicated that the quantity of forage 

 thus obtained was two to three and one-half times as much as when the 

 crop was pastured. 



The possible injurious effects of pasturing sorghum have already 

 been alluded to in another paragraph. (See also Bulletin 77 of the 

 Nebraska Experiment Station.) 



An acre of Early Amber sorghum, drilled with a corn planter in 

 double rows, 6 inches between rows, 3 feet apart, June 12. was cut on 

 September 19 with a corn binder and shocked in the field. The weight 

 of this, taken December 1, was 8,715 pounds. 



A similar plot was treated in the same manner, except that the seed 

 was planted with a grain drill in rows S inches apart. The forage was 

 cut the same as the other plot but with a mowing machine, and was 

 put in cocks, where it remained till December 1. The weight was 

 then found to be 12,350 pounds, or over 6 tons per acre. 



In the drier portions of the State where it is necessary to conserve 

 the moisture, it is advisable to plant the seed in rows in order to admit 

 of cultivation. The crop is thus made more certain. 



Millet. 



Common millet {jSetaria italica) is much grown in eastern Nebraska 

 as a summer hay crop and frequently as a catch crop after grain. It 

 can be cut in about two months from the time it is planted, and is an 



