Forage Crops For The Colorado Plains 
13 
to mature pretty well, at least to mature until the ears are well dented 
and glazed before the crop is harvested, as it will make better silage 
and a greater yield of feed if harvested at this time. It will not be harm¬ 
ful if some of the lower leaves are dry, because water can be run into 
the silage as the silo is being filled. 
If cut for fodder it should be cut at about the same time as for 
silage and put at once into shocks. As soon as cured it should be taken 
in from the field and stacked in order to reduce the waste from the 
dry, high winds of winter to as low a minimum as possible. With the 
silo, it is possible to save ninety to ninety-five per cent of all of the 
feed produced in the field. Witli the best methods of dry fodder mak¬ 
ing, not over seventy per cent will be saved, and there will be a great 
deal more waste in feeding as the animals will not eat nearly so much. 
Often where the crop is harvested by cutting and shocking, weather 
conditions will be such that as much as eighty per cent may be lost, 
altogether too high a loss to be permitted where forage is as scarce as 
it is upon the ordinary Plains farm. 
SORGHUMS 
Two kinds of sorghums are commonly grown. Both have about 
an equal resistance to dry weather and drouthy conditions. These are 
forage, or saccharine sorghums, and grain, or non-saccharine, sorghums. 
The latter are distinguished from the saccharine sorghums in that 
the juices are not sweet. They are ordinarily called grain sorghums 
because they produce heavy yields of seed or grain which is well 
adapted for feeding purposes. The sorghums have one very valuable 
characteristic—in drouthy periods they will cease growth and unless 
the drouthy period is exceedingly prolonged, will recover and continue 
growth if moisture cornes later. The sorghums have a very large 
place in the forage crops of our dry land regions because of their ability 
to withstand drouth. They can not be successfully grown in some 
localities because of the cold climate resulting from the high altitudes. 
Where the sorghums will out-yield corn, they should be grown for 
forage purposes in preference to corn. 
Forage Sorghums or Sorgos .—The forage sorghums can be grown 
practically all over the Colorado Plains. In some localities near the 
foothills and in some localities on the Platte-Arkansas Divide, the 
altitudes are too high and the climate too cool for the best development 
of even the shortest-season sorghums. 
There are a large number of varieties and types of sorghum. 
Practically only two tvnes are adapted to any of our regions. These 
are the Ambers and Sudan Grass. Of the Ambers we have Black 
Amber, Red Amber, and White Amber. The White Amber was pro¬ 
duced by selection by Mr. Freed of western Kansas. It is called in 
many sections and in some Government literature, ‘‘Freed’s Sorgo.” 
vSudan Grass is not commonly called a sorghum, but for the pur¬ 
pose of this bulletin, it can be classed with the sorghums. It crosses 
