468 Hope St., Provdience, R.I. 
7 Oct,,1918 
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Mr. A, G. Tillinfhp.st, 
69 Briggs St., 
Providence, R.I, 
Pear Sir:- 
The plant that you asked rce about in the Union station 
last Saturday morning is, as I thought at the time, one of the 
so-called Raff!r-corn plants. This particular one is more 
correctly known as Blackball kafir . It is one of the non-sac¬ 
charine Sorgums. It is a native of Ratal and the coast regions 
of eastern-central Africa, and is considerably grown in certain 
parts of the United States for forage, but it is also an impor- 
that grain crop. It is reported that one-seventh of the Black- 
hull Kafir grown in Kansas in 1899 was for grain, and six- 
sevenths was for fo&age. The plant usually does not nature 
properly north of the 4B& parallel of latitude, which is about 
the northern boundary of Rhode Island and Connecticut. 
The Blackhull Kafir plant is closely related, botanically, 
to Broom-corn, and Guinea-corn, The name "com" is improperly 
applied to all these plants; it properly belongs to the Indian 
Corn, which has its fruits in "ears". 
Very truly yours, 
