On the Composition of Sorglium Saccharatiim. 
385 
and immediate objects to be obtained by such an examination of 
our cultivated crops are so full of interest that I venture to 
express the hope that Dr. Voelcker will closely follow up what 
lie has so hopefully inaugurated in tlie short paper before us. 
One point in Dr. \ oelcker's trial of the sorghum requires 
special attention on the part of future experimenters, viz. the 
period at which the plant begins to be palatable to live stock. 
A small plot of it sown here (West Riding of Yorkshire) last 
April in a well-sheltered garden grew vigorously and produced a 
large amount of both leaves and stems, the latter fully six feet 
high ; both were greedily eaten by horses and cattle as early as 
tbe month of July, and from that lime until the end of October, 
when it was cut down by frost. No special manure was applied 
to this plot, but the land was in the high condition which is usual 
in the case of garden ground. 
From the late period at which its growth commences, it is not 
probable that the sorghum will be able to compete with our 
clovers, &c,, as a general crop for soiling, but two points are 
already ascertained beyond doubt, viz., that a small piece of 
land devoted to this plant will raise a large amount of produce, 
and that at a certain period (to be hereafter ascertained) this 
produce acquires considerable feeding value. 
If it should be generally found to be as palatable to stock in 
July, as it was here, it will be very useful for soiling during 
the months of August and September; if, however, like Dr. 
Voelcker's, it should in most cases be unfit for cattle food until 
late in September, it would still be worth while to try whether it 
might not be made into valuable hay, either by cutting it in 
autumn when the saccharine mattfer was fully developed, or by 
cutting earlier and stacking it sufficiently green to induce con- 
siderable fermentation in the stack. The sorghum is naturally a 
plant of rapid growth, and it is possible that heavy doses of 
jruano or other highlv concentrated manure mijiht force on its 
growth sufficiently to obtain not only a greater weight of produce 
J)ut earlier maturity. At all events those stockraasters who, like 
myself, often experience a lack of material for soiling for a few 
weeks after harvest, would do well to try experiments on a 
limited scale with the sorghum, which is evidently a plant of 
^rcat capabilities. 
H. S. Thompson. 
VOL. XX. 
