GRAIN-SORGHUM EXPERIMENTS IN THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS. 19 
THe Karir GROUP. 
The kafir varieties are known by their stout, stocky, semijuicy 
stems, with short internodes and overlapping sheaths; leaves 11 to 
16, broad; panicles erect, cylindrical, linear or narrowly to broadly 
oblong, heavy; spikelets obovate, 2.5 to 4 mm. wide; glumes much 
shorter than the seed; lemmas not awned. 
The six varieties grown in this country may be distinguished by 
the following key: 
Seeds white. 
Glumes black. 
Stalks 1.5 to 2.4 meters tall. 
Moartmimoplate: saves. 20 aa Sie ae eis se Blackhull kafir. 
Maturungemidearly son wes ee ate Sunrise kafir. 
Stalks 0.9 to 1.3 meters tall; maturing midearly. Dawn (Dwarf Blackhull) kafir. 
Gimesiwiiteves 4 tee es: See dtc tl ose hee ol White kafir. 
Seeds pink. 
Gites WNIGC Ree a ce ee ee Re ee Pink kafir. 
Seeds red. 
Gilrmiresublackssee he rans re see Eee NS Pol ei acs dren Red kafir. 
THE KaAoLIANG GROUP. 
Stems slender, dry, pithy, 0.8 to 3 meters tall; leaves 8 to 11, 
small, narrow; panicle variable, mostly narrowly oval to oblong or 
clavate; spikelets obovate or oval, 2.5 to 3.3 mm. wide; lemmas 
always awned; seeds oval, often pointed, white or various shades 
of brown. 
A large number of varieties of Kaoliang have been grown in 
adaptation and classification studies. Most of these have been dis- 
carded, however, and it is not necessary to classify and separate them 
here. 
Only one of these varieties has become established as a farm crop. 
This variety, the Manchu (Cereal Investigations Nos. 171 and 328), 
is now grown to some extent in South Dakota, and its use there seems 
to be increasing. It is a very early maturing variety, of medium 
height, 1.2 to 2.1 meters tall, with a narrowly cval, semicompact 
panicle 8 to 10 inches long, black glumes, and dark-brown seeds. 
The varietal name, Acro, has recently been given by the South 
Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station to a selection of the Manchu 
variety. 
THE SHALLU GROUP. 
Only one variety of the shallu group is found in the United States, 
and it apparently has little or no value for dry-land conditions. 
It grows from 1.5 to 2.4 meters tall, has slender, dry stems bearing 
11 to 15 leaves of medium size, and large, loose, conical, pale-yellow 
panicles, 2 to4dm. long. The glumes are yellowish and at maturity 
spread wide apart and the edges become inrolled, completely exposing 
the small, oval, pale-buff seed. 
