KAFIR AND DURRA Two sorghum varieties that are not sugar producers have come to be extensively grown in the semi-arid regions of what was once our Great Plains. The merit of these canes is that they thrive in spite of drought, and they don't seem to mind hot winds that shrivel the corn. The Kafir has its head erect; the Durra hangs its head. Thus, when one sees a field of stocky canes, like dwarf species of corn, the close, oval heads loaded with seeds, it is easy to tell if it is Kafir or Durra, the bold or the bashful one, the South African or the Egyptian "corn." The seeds of these giant grasses are rich in starch, and in the Dark Continent are used human food, as well as fodder, pasture, and dry grain for cattle. It was a shrewd traveller who brought the seeds to farmers on our western fron tier where each soon proved itself a patient grass in a trying situation. Instead of succumbing to the drought and heat, the immigrant rolls its leaves up into the smallest compass, and calls a halt on all activities. When the spell of weather passes, and rain falls, the leaves unroll, and growth goes forward, just as if there had been no check.
Kafir has a reputation as poultry food, and ground into meal is a valuable part of the ration of fattening stock. The "yellow milo," a dwarf durra, is a great fodder crop in California and the hot, dry Southwest. If planted thinly, the stalks will "stool" like wheat, thus multiplying the crop by increasing the number of stalks.
A half-grown crop of durra or kafir makes good pasture, but the full-grown stalks, even when stripped of seed, have more value as fodder. White-seeded durra is called "Jerusalem corn." "Kafir corn" and " African millet" are the same thing. The color of the seed glumes, or hulls, give the names to different varieties of kafir.
During any check in growth the leaves of sor ghums contain a poison, hydrocyanic acid, that may kill cattle that eat the plant during this time. When the fodder is dry, the danger of poisoning has passed.