SORGHUM EXPERIMENTS ON THE GREAT PLAINS. 57 
a good grain yield at Woodward, Okla., but the seeds resemble those 
of sorgo and have a low feeding value. 
The remaining varieties that were included in the tests are not 
discussed in detail because they appear to be of only minor impor- 
tance. 
CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS. 
The cultural experiments here discussed relate to the date of 
seeding and rate of seeding. These tests were conducted only in 
the sorghum belt and included from two to five of the leading varie- 
ties in each locality. The most extensive work was with the date 
of seeding, on which subject data are reported from eight stations. 
Data on rate of seeding, both in rows and in close drills, are reported 
from three stations, Hays, Kans., and Chillicothe and Amarillo, 
Tex. Under "Time of cutting" the results obtained with close- 
drilled Ked Amber sorgo at Hays, Kans., are presented. 
Cultural data were not obtained in so extensive a manner as the 
varietal comparisons already recorded, but the general principles 
developed by these experiments are, with slight modifications, appli- 
cable to most of the sorghum belt. 
DATE OF SEEDING. 
In these experiments from two to five of the leading varieties in 
each locality were seeded at approximately 2-week intervals through- 
out the available planting season, as near the first and middle of the 
month as possible. In the choice of varieties attention was given to 
relative earliness as well as the local importance. With this factor 
in mind Sumac was selected as a medium to late and Red Amber as 
an early sorgo for the stations south of Hays, Kans. Among the 
grain sorghums u some strain of kafir was selected as a medium to 
late variety, milo and feterita as medium early, and Freed as very 
early. 
At Hays, Kans., there were five dates of seeding, May 1 to July 1; 
at Chillicothe, Tex., seven dates, from April 1 to July 1; at Dalhart. 
Tex., four dates, May 1 to June 15; and at the other five stations 
six dates, from April 15 to July 1. The sorghum in these experi- 
ments was all grown in cultivated rows 40 to 44 inches apart and 
usually surface planted. 
In the matter of soil preparation and tillage after seeding, it is 
important to note that the best rather than the average farm practice 
was usually followed. The customary plan was to set aside in 
early spring, prior to the first date of seeding, a field large enough 
to include all of the date-of -seeding experiments. This field was kept 
clean and in good tilth until seeding time, a practice favorable to 
the late seedings as compared with the common farm practice of 
seeding with little or no prior soil preparation. 
The earliest seedings also were given better care than is usually 
accorded to sorghum on the farm. Under average farm conditions 
seeding in April, or even on May 1, often gives much less favorable 
results, owing to poor stands and weed competition during the 
sorghum's slow early growth. In the experimental work these 
factors were overcome or their effect minimized by sowing plenty of 
- 1 Experiments with the grain sorghums are reported only from Hays, Kans., and Chillicothe and 
Amarillo, Tex. 
