SACCHARINE SORGHUMS 
FIELD OF ORANGE CANE — COURTESY OF KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 
. The different kinds of cane or sorghum are planted very extensively for making syrup and also for 
fodder. The fact that cane will make a crop with very little attention leads many farmers to neglect it. 
The proper preparation of the soil and proper cultivation will pay with cane the same as with other crops. 
For best yields there must be a firm seed bed obtained by plowing the land early in the fall and har- 
rowing or disking to keep down the weeds until seeding time. Such preparation allows whatever vegata- 
tion there may be in the soil to decay and leaves it in best tillable condition. 
Cane should be planted soon after corn when the soil is thoroughly warm. In planting for syrup 
production, sorghum should be planted in rows from 3 to 3 y 2 feet apart. Seeding should be done so that 
the plants stand from 4 to 6 inches apart in the row and to do this requires from 2 to 4 lbs. of seed to the 
acre. Cane is often not cultivated but careful cultivation will increase the yield to a considerable extent. 
When harvesting for syrup making the best stage for cutting is just before the hardening of the seed. 
Earlier than this the cane is too green and the syrup will have an unripe taste. If cut when the seed is 
too hard the juice is said to be difficult to clarify and the flavor of the syrup is not good. 
For fodder or forage cane is planted broadcast or in rows. Drilling in rows is generally recommended. 
The amount of the seed planted should be governed by the amount of moisture in the soil at planting time 
and the rainfall during the growing season. A forage crop is not expected to produce much grain and 
the stalks should stand thick enough on the ground to produce fine — not coarse — forage. At the same 
time, it must be remembered that a certain amount of moisture will care for only a certain number of plants. 
Too thick planting has resulted in more disappointments in yields of forage than any other cause. 
Thousands and thousands of acres of cane and kaffir literally burn up every year because there are two 
or three times as many stalks on the ground as the moisture could support. Drilling of a bushel or more 
of cane or kaffir in eastern Kansas is disasterous for every year except the unusually wet one. The seeding 
of one and a half to two bushels on the uplands of eastern Kansas will generally result in a poor yield. 
Since no man can tell what the weather will be, it is a good plan to guard against dry weather by not 
planting too heavily. 
TEXAS SEEDED RIBBON CANE OR GOOSENECK SORGHUM 
This variety makes the most and the best quality of syrup. Growers who have used it for that purpose 
are enthusiastic about it. The stock is not entirely pure and both Goosenecked and straightnecked plants 
appear in the same fields. 
EARLY AMBER CANE. This popular and well known variety is the earliest and makes the finest 
quality of amber syrup and sugar. Succeeds well from Texas to Minnesota. 
ORANGE CANE. A well known variety adapted to the Southwest. It is from 8 to 10 days later 
than the Early Amber. 
RED TOP CANE. Planted very extensively in the Southwest. Smaller than the other varieties, 
but makes a large amount of fodder. 
T * FORAGE OR FODDER CANE. Cane seed is now grown to a considerable extent for stock feeding 
It yields heavily. It can be raised anywhere, and is sown extensively in dry regions where grasses do not 
do well. Because of its sweetness it is greatly relished by cattle and horses and sheep. For forage sow 
50 lbs. to the acre. Ask for Market prices. 
FREED CANE. This is intermediate between grain and sweet sorghums. It resembles amber 
sorghum in appearance of stems, leaves and heads but differs from it in that the stems are not as juicy and 
only slightly sweet. Unlike the sweet sorghums, the seeds do not contain tannin, and hence are good feed 
for stock. The seeds are plumper and somewhat more flattened than those of the amber varieties, but 
not so long. They have a chalky white color. The seed hulls are yellowish white and nearly enclose 
the seed. 
Freed sorghum matures in from 70 to 90 days. It is well adapted for short seasons and for late plant- 
ing. It is a dependable grain sorghum in the extreme western part of Kansas. In central Kansas this 
variety can be planted the middle of July and still mature seed before frost if growing conditions are favora- 
FOR PRICES OF FIELD SEEDS SEE OUR PINK LIST. MAILED FREE ANY TIME 
