30 BULLETIN 470, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
average values were 97 per cent for the bread and 99 per cent for the 
mush; with dwarf milo 96 per cent for the bread and 98 per cent for 
the mush; and for kaoliang 96 per cent for both bread and mush. 
The corn and wheat proteins, in general, were found to be somewhat 
less thoroughly digested than has usually been found to be the case 
with these cereals, this being due, no doubt, to the coarseness of the 
meals used. The average digestibility of the corn-bread protein, as 
distinguished from that of the diet as a whole, was 60 per cent and 
of the coarse wheat-bread protein 77 per cent. In the case of the 
carbohydrates 96 per cent of the total supplied by the corn bread, as 
distinguished from the diet as a whole, was digested and of the coarse 
wheat bread 95 per cent. 
The experiments with all the grains were conducted under condi- 
tions as nearly uniform as possible, with the idea of getting directly 
comparable results. Hence it may be concluded that the protein of 
the grain sorghums is less digestible than that contained in either 
corn or wheat. 
The discussion so far has concerned the experimental data princi- 
pally from a technical standpoint, but the practical application of the 
results is certainly of equal interest. From the data here recorded 
and elsewhere available regarding the preparation of the sorghums 
for the table, it seems fair to conclude that these cereals are de- 
cidedly valuable as human food. They can be prepared for the table 
in palatable form, requiring, however, some special method of cook- 
ing to insure their being at their best. In preparing them it is most 
important to make certain of the absorption of water in such quan- 
tities that the particles of meal which are characteristically hard or 
flinty may be well softened. 
To many palates the grain sorghums more nearly resemble buck- 
wheat in flavor than they do corn or wheat. The flavor is quite 
generally regarded as agreeable, and the grains are conceded to be 
wholesome. Though their protein is less completely assimilated than 
that of corn or wheat, they are nevertheless, with the exception of 
kaoliang, a fairly good source of this nutrient. Furthermore, the 
sorghums are a good source of carbohydrate and furnish this im- 
portant food constituent in a form very completely available to the 
body. The use of the grain sorghums in general offers variety to the 
diet, and in regions where other cereals are not so successfully grown 
they may contribute materially to the supply of materials suitable as 
human food. 
