60 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Febrtjari, 
Durra, like Broom-corn, varies in bight with 
the richness of the land; under favorable cir¬ 
cumstances growing from 10 to 15 feet high. 
It is more thickly furnished with foliage than 
the Broom-corn varieties, and the leaves are so 
like Indian corn that it is difficult to tell them 
apart. The flowers, and 
seed, are borne in a single 
panicle, or cluster, at the 
top of the plant; this dif¬ 
fers somewhat in shape, 
in some being cylindrical, 
in others pyramidal; it 
is sometimes exceedingly 
close and compact, and in 
others more open and 
loose, usually about 6 
inches long and 2£ inches 
through the largest part. 
In one variety, known in 
Europe, the head in ripen¬ 
ing bends directly down¬ 
wards. The engraving 
shows the general habit 
of the usual form of the 
plant. As the structure 
of the flower cannot be 
well described without de¬ 
tailed analyses, it is suf¬ 
ficient to say that it it is 
like that of Broom-corn. 
The grain is small and 
roundish, and it is of a 
dead white, reminding one 
of pearl-barley; in some 
varieties it is yellowish or 
even brownish. The grain, 
while it is much used as 
food in some countries, is 
regarded as less nutritious 
than most grains, from 
the lack of albuminoids. 
For the past two years 
there have been discus¬ 
sions in the Southern 
journals, concerning the 
value of Guinea-corn and 
Guinea-grass as forage, the 
correspondents evidently 
talking about different 
plants; the writers often 
not knowing that they 
were describing different 
things, often found them¬ 
selves in much confusion, 
but as it was apparent that 
the term Guinea was pre¬ 
fixed to one, if not two, 
valuable forage plants, and 
that there was a Guinea- 
grass or Corn different 
from the plant we had 
collected in Georgia as 
Guinea-grass, we took 
measures to get at the facts in the case. Quite 
unexpectedly, Mr. David Reid, of Pensacola, 
Fla., but at present in Washington, sent us 
specimens of both plants, though he made no 
confusion of names, one being marked “Guinea- 
grass ” and the other “ Durra ”; the latter is 
the “ Guinea-corn ” in question. As the Dur¬ 
ra, Sorghum vulgare, is now attracting attention 
as a forage plant in the Southern States, we re¬ 
quested Mr. Reid to give us his method of cul¬ 
tivation. He sent us a very full account, and 
is very enthusiastic over his success with it; 
but he wishes it to be understood that he 
speaks of it only from his experience in Flori¬ 
da, and does not wish that (accepted as a n indi* 
cation of its value in northern localities. How 
far North it may be found profitable, or if it 
may successfully compete with Indian Corn as 
a forage crop, can only be decided by experi¬ 
ment. We abridge Mr. R.’s notes: For the 
best results, Durra needs a warm and rich soil; 
durra, or common sorghum.— {Sorghum vulgare.) 
the land should be well prepared, and liberally 
manured; it is then laid off in beds, to allow of 
surface drainage, and the seed sown in drills, 
which are from 2 to 3 or 3| feet apart; the 
poorer the land, the more room must be given; 
on rich soil, the drills are as close as can be 
worked with a cultivator; the seeds are drop¬ 
ped at 3 to 4 inches apart in the drills. Like 
Sorgho and Broom-corn, the seed is slow in 
germinating, unless the soil is warm, and the 
young plant so small, that it might be mistaken 
for a spear of grass. When young, it needs 
careful working; any method found useful for 
Broom-corn will answer for this, but while the 
plants are young, they must he kept free from 
weeds, by the use of hand-hoes and weeding; 
after the first clearing, the crop receives the 
same treatment as Indian Corn, and as with 
that, the weeds must never get the ascendency. 
When the plants are 6 to 10 inches high, and 
have begun to throw up suckers, of which each 
plant forms a bunch of 
four to six, they are thin¬ 
ned to 8 to 10 inches be¬ 
tween the bunches. At 
this time, any vacant 
spaces from failure of seed 
to germinate, may be filled 
by transplanting from 
spots needing thinning. 
Mr. R. states that it pays 
to utilize all the thinnings, 
by setting them in pre¬ 
pared rows, thus trans¬ 
planting a part of the 
crop, doing it carefully on 
a warm wet day. A por¬ 
tion of the crop, or a spe¬ 
cial patch, is reserved for 
seed, and is not to be cut 
for fodder. When the 
seed - bearing plants are 
about 5 ft. high, the 
clumps are thinned, cut¬ 
ting out all but three or 
four of the best stalks, and 
using the thinnings as 
forage; as other shoots 
appear, they are also cut 
out. When the grain is in 
the milk, the lower leaves, 
to 5 or 6 ft. from the 
ground, are removed, to 
admit the sun to the roots 
to assist in maturing the 
seed. When the seeds are 
ripe, the heads are cut, and 
put under shelter to cure 
thoroughly; if not well 
cured, they are apt to be 
attacked by insects. For 
forage, the cutting begins 
when the plants are 3 to 5 
feet high, and continues 
every 25 or 30 days, until 
frost; the plant throws 
up additional shoots after 
each cutting, if properly 
cared for; the stalks are 
cut within two inches of 
the ground, and the crop 
must then be kept clear 
of weeds, until the new 
growth gains the ascen¬ 
dency over them. In Flor¬ 
ida Mr. R. planted about 
March 18th, and com¬ 
menced cutting in about 60 
days; up to Sept. 1st he 
had made five full cuttings, the united lengths of 
which he estimates at full 20 feet; he mentions 
no cutting beyond Sept. 1st, as he was then 
obliged to come North on account of ill health, 
and his patch was turned into a pasture. Mr. 
Reid is confident that, for the Southern States, 
on rich land, the Durra will exceed in value all 
other forage plants. A consideration of the 
value of Durra as a grain crop must be post¬ 
poned until another time. If used for this, or 
any other purpose, it should be under its proper 
name. Not long ago the Durra was offered as 
“ Ivory Wheat.” To judge from the description 
and engraving, a variety of it is this year offer¬ 
ed under the absurd name of “ Pampas Rice,*’ 
