UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
MI BULLETIN No. 1129 
j^f^sj-i. 
Washington, D. C. T November 27, 1922 
A PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL STUDY OF MILO AND 
FETERITA KERNELS. 
By George L. Bidwell, Leslie E. Bopst, and John D. Bowling, Cattle Food and 
Grain Investigation Laboratory, Miscellaneous Division, Bureau of Chemistry. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Purpose of investigation 1 
Physical properties of kernels 2 
Page. 
Malting of kafir, milo, and feterita 5 
Summary J 7 
Chemical composition of kernels 3 | Bibliography 7 
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION. 
The grain sorghums are a comparatively new crop in the L'nited 
States, where they have been grown for only 25 or 30 years (2). 1 
At first their use was largely restricted to the feeding of farm animals. 
These grains, however, are now being used in increasing quantities 
for human food and various industrial purposes, and are receiving 
attention from manufacturers of alcohol and starch. Feterita and 
milo, which contain on an average 65 per cent of starch, seem to be 
especially suitable as raw material for the manufacture of high-grade 
starch by commercial processes. 
As a basis for a process utilizing nonsaccharine sorghums in the 
manufacture of starch and feeding stuffs, and to provide data for 
engineers who may be called upon to design machinery for their 
treatment, the Bureau of Chemistry has conducted a study on the 
physical characteristics and the chemical composition of milo and 
feterita kernels and the various parts into which they might be 
separated by milling. This study is a continuation of similar work 
done on the kafir kernel, the results of which are published in United 
States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 634. Milo and feterita 
have the same botanical characteristics and the kernels very much 
the same structure as the kafir kernel (Fig. 1). The data on corn 
and kafir herein reported are taken from Bulletin 634. 
1 The numbers in parentheses throughout this bulletin refer to the bibliography on page S. 
12343°— 22 
