2 BULLETIX 383, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGRICULTURE. 
varieties, such as Blackhull kafir, Dwarf milo. Orange sorgo, and 
Sumac sorgo. 
Farmers should be slow to discard the standard varieties for new 
ones. A small acreage of the less known variety should be grown 
first for comparison, or the recommendations of the State agricultural 
experiment stations or of the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, should be followed in the matter of adopting the newer sorts. 
In order to be in a position to advise farmers in regard to these new 
varieties the experiment stations conduct extensive variety tests. 
Breeding work with the sorghums is a complex process, owing 
to the freedom with which the}^ cross-pollinate and the resulting 
difficulty of establishing a stable variety. A farmer can rarely afford 
to engage in creative plant-breeding work; that is, the production 
of new varieties by cross-pollination. This assertion is based on 
several reasons: (1) The percentage of success is very small, that 
is, the breeder must expect to discard numberless forms before one 
is found that will be of sufficient value to replace the varieties now 
being grown; (2) the development of a variety yields little profit 
to the originator, because he can control neither its propagation nor 
its distribution; (3) the farmer is working at a disadvantage when 
compared with experiment stations, because in most cases he lacks 
a knowledge of the range of existing forms available as a basis for 
his breeding work; (4) extreme care and patience are necessary in 
plant breeding, and if the farmer devotes to it the required time his 
general crops are likely to be neglected and financial loss ensue. 
The devotion of a farmer's time to creative plant breeding can 
be justified, therefore, only from an altruistic standpoint. Unless 
his income is assured from outside sources, it is unwise for him to 
engage in plant breeding except in the improvement of the standard 
varieties by consistent seed selection. This phase of crop improve- 
ment is well worth his time and effort. 
DESCRIPTION AND ADAPTATION OF THE NEW VARIETIES OF 
SORGHUM. 
Most of the new varieties of sorghum described in this bulletin were 
obtained by selection from importations made by the United States 
Department of Agriculture, but others have been picked up among 
farmers, and their exact origin is obscure. All of these have given 
very satisfactory results in experimental trials, and a few of them are 
already grown locally by farmers. In view of these facts they are 
deemed worthy of wide distribution, so that they may be tried under 
field conditions in competition with the varieties usually grown. 
Typical plants of Dwarf hegari. Improved feterita. and Schrock 
kafir are shown in figure 1, and figure 2 shows the comparative sizes 
and shapes of the heads of all the varieties. 
