^4 
BULLETIN 12(30, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
more, as will be observed by comparing the yields in Table 26 with 
the forage yields of the same varieties in Tables 18 and 19. In years 
of low rainfall the row sorghums ordinarily outyield those sown in 
close drills, and the quality of the forage is superior because of the 
more normal maturity of the row seedings. In years of abundant 
rainfall, however, the reverse is true; the close-drilled sorghums out- 
yield the row sorghums, and the quality of the forage is first-class. 
Some variety of sorgo is usually chosen for close-drilled seedings. 
kafir or other grain sorghums being used only in rare instances. 
Experiments in the rate of seeding sorgo in close drills were con- 
ducted at the same field stations as the rate experiments in row seed- 
ings. The results at Amarillo, Tex., however, were of minor value 
because the outline was changed several times. The results obtained 
at Hays, Kans.. with Bed Amber sorgo and at Chillicothe, Tex., with 
both Red Amber and Sumac are shown in Table 26. 
Table 26. — Yields of forage from sorgo varieties seeded in close drills at different 
rates at Hays, Kans., and Chillicothe, Tex., in stated years. 
Variety, location, and seed per acre. 
Yields per acre of air-dry hay (tons). 
1914 1915 1916 
Red Amber at Hays, Kans.: 
15 pounds I 4.24 6.81 
30pounds -3.98 6.91 
4.i pounds 3.74 7.16 
60 pounds 3.62 7.13 
75 pounds 3.75 7.17 
Red Amber at Chillicothe. Tex.: 
impounds ; 6.13 5.25 
30 pounds ! 6.83 5.93 
45 pounds 7.23 6.25 
60 pounds | 7.28 6.05 
75 pounds 6.98 5.50 
Sumac at Chillicothe. Tex.: 
15 pounds : 8.50 6.30 
30pounds ' 8.70 6.05 
45 pounds 9.35^ 6.68 
60pounds 9.88 6.25 
75pounds 9.85 i 6.75 
1.79 
1.83 
1.84 
1.82 
1.64 
1. 35 
1.48 
1.26 
1.27 
2. 99 
.. 67 
2 65 
3.10 
1918 1921 
3.25 
3.16 
2. 52 
2. 53 
3. 17 
1.21 
i.oi : 
1.10 
.88 
1. 15 
. H2 
1.01 
• 97 
.74 
.74 
.38 
.83 
2.94 
3.40 
4. 56 
3.94 
4.24 
4. 12 
4.52 
4. 22 
4.01 
4.13 I 
i 
2.90 
3. br> 
3.47 
3.34 
3.72 
3.53 
3.91 
3.93 
3. 87 
4.07 
Aver- 
age. 
3.82 
3.71 
3. 58 
3. 64 
3.66 
3. 24 
3.70 
3. 95 
3. 80 
3.78 
4.07 
4.21 
4.36 
4.25 
4. 34 
At Amarillo. Tex., the yields from the drilled plats were low ex- 
cept in 1915, a season of abundant rainfall. The average yields per 
acre of Red Amber sown in 1914. 1916. and 1917 at the 15-pound 
rate were 1.87 tons; 30-pound rate. 1.98 tons: 45-pound rate, 1.78 
tons; and 60-pound rate, 1.68 tons. The average yields of Sumac 
for the same years and rates of seeding were 1.88, 1.83, 1.78, and 
1.81 tons per acre, respectively. In these three rather dry years the 
lower rates made the higher yields. 
Red Amber seeded in rows during the same years produced an 
average of 2.33 tons and Sumac 3.3 tons of air-dry fodder per acre. 
It is apparent, therefore, that seeding in rows is the most dependable 
method of growing sorghums for forage in the northern Panhandle 
of Texas. 
Throughout all the tests in close drills, it is apparent that varying 
the rate of seeding affected but little the tonnage produced. It seems 
that with a given amount of moisture, about the same amount of 
plant growth can be made irrespective of rate of seeding within the 
limits tested. The quality of the forage, however, is a factor of im- 
