90 
RICHARD FROTSCHER’S ALMANAC AND GARDEN MANUAL 
boards fitted to two or more cross pieces in 
the reverse position of weather boards on a 
house. This inexpensive implement dragged 
over the land crushes small clods, covers the 
seed sufficiently, and levels the ground very 
uniformly, giving it good surface drainage, 
and preventing the washing away of seed by 
small trenches or gulleys. 
We have paid little attention to any of the 
spring or summer grasses, as our native Ber- 
muda, Crab Grass, White Clover and Pea 
vines afford good summer forage and pastur- 
age. Nothing that we have tried has been as 
satisfactory as the Rye for winter pasturage, 
and we will not plant anything else for that 
purpose. Any planter who has from 25 to 100 
mules to feed will find their condition from 
December 1st to April lst much improved by 
a few hours grazing each week ona Rye patch 
from 5 to 20 acres. 
The Butter plate both in the fullness and 
color of its contents offers the highest testi- 
monials by its appearance to those whose 
lands and means limit them to an area not 
| measured by acres. 
We cannot speak of the relative merits of 
| Northern and Southern grown seed, as we 
have not used any excepting those supplied 
by you, and we do not know where they came 
from. Confident that they were the best, we 
have planted every year with uniformly good 
results. Any further information we can give 
on this subject will always be at your disposal. 
With kindest regards and wishes for a prosper- 
ous business season, followed by a bountiful 
harvest to your patrons. H. WILKINSON. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST 
OF THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF THE SORGHUM FAMILY 
SUITABLE FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 
Amber Sorghum. 
Sorghum is planted for feeding stock during | 
For this ee] 
the spring and early summer. 
pose it should be sown as early in spring as 
KAFFIR 
This isa variety of Sorghum, non-saccharine, 
and distinctly differing in habit of growth 
and other characteristics from all others of 
that class. The plant is low, stocks perfectly 
erect, the foliage is wide, alternating closely 
on either side of the stalks. 
It does not stool from the root, but branches 
from the top joints, producing from two to 
four heads of grain from each stalk. The 
heads are long, narrow and perfectly erect, 
well filled with white grain, which at maturity | 
possible, in drills about two to three feet 
apart; three to four quarts per acre. It makes 
excellent green fodder. 
As a forage plant for early cutting, to be fed 
to stock, 1 do not think that anything is equal 
to the Amber Sorghum, such as I have been 
selling for years, imported from Kansas. After 
several cuttings, the branching Varieties of 
Sorghum, also called Millo Maize, may be 
preferable, but more so for seed than forage. 
—The Teosinte will give more fodder than 
any of the Sorghums. Some varieties not 
before described and rather new here are the 
following: — 
Yellow Millo Maize, or Yellow Branching 
Dhouro, grows same as the White Branching 
kind. The only difference exists in the size 
of the seed, which is twice the size of the 
white variety. It is said to be somewhat 
earlier; seeds planted in April will ripen seed 
in July. On account of its branching habit 
this grain should be planted in four or five 
foot rows, and two to three feet in the drill, 
according to the strength of the land, two 
plants ina hill. The cultivation is like corn. 
Price, 15c. per lb.; postage extra; 8c. per 
lb. by mail—15 lIbs., $1.50 by Express or 
Steamer. 
CORN. 
slightly flecked with red or reddish brown 
spots. Weight, 60 lbs. per bushel. 
The average height of growth on good 
strong land, 53 to 6 feet; on thin land, 43 to 5 
feet. The stalk is stout, never blown about 
by winds, never tangles, and is always man- 
ageable, easily handled. A boy can gather 
the grain heads or the fodder. The seed heads 
grow from 10 to 12 inches in length, and pro- 
duct of grain on good land easily reaches 50 
to 60 bushels per acre. 
