The time for planting sorghum varies ac cording to latitude from the 1st of April to the middle of June. In general the best results are obtained by sowing the seed broadcast or with a drill, as oats or wheat are sown. When in tended for a soiling crop it is sometimes better to sow in rows far enough apart to admit of plowing between the rows. The amount of forage yielded per acre varies according to soil, climate and methods of cultivation, and ranges up to as much as 15 tons of the cured hay. Two or three crops are sometimes harvested in a single year, and as much as 10 tons is sometimes obtained from a single cut ting. Experiments at the Nebraska Experiment Station showed sorghum to be the heaviest yielder of all the forage crops at that station. It is a deep-feeding plant, and gives better re sults on poor land than does corn, but is more exhausting to the soil. In feeding sorghum the whole plant is usually used. The seed alone has a feeding value of about 90 per cent of that of corn, and is valued highly for poultry, espe cially for laying hens. Bulletin 15 of the De partment of Agriculture compares the composi tion of sorghum seed and corn as follows: Corn (shelled), water 10.9; ash 1.5; fibre 2.1; fat 5.4; protein 10.5; nitrogen-free extract 69.6; sorghum seed, water 12.8; ash 2.1; fibre 2.6; fat 3.6; protein 9.1; nitrogen-free extract 70.0.
These exist in many varieties, all with the same general habits of growth, being slow to germinate and requiring a long period to mature seed as com pared with corn. They differ in the length, thickness and strength of the stem, in the num ber and size of the leaves and in the position of the seed-head. The principal varieties are Kaffir corn, Milo maize, durra (doura, dhourra or dhoura), Jerusalem corn and broom corn. All of these varieties except the last are grown principally as feed for stock. The peculiar adaptability of broom corn to the manufacture of brooms and brushes has led it to be devoted entirely to this purpose.
Kaffir corn is the best known of those grown as feed for stock. It was introduced from South Africa about 1884, distributed by the Department of Agriculture and has been found well fitted to the semi-arid regions of the West and Southwest, where corn has never been a reliable crop. It is now extensively cultivated in Oklahoma, western Kansas and other places where lack of moisture gives this crop an advan tage over corn. In appearance Kaffir corn re sembles sorghum, but does not grow so tall. The leaves are large and long, the head is up right and compact, and the seeds vary in color according to variety. Three distinct species have been generally agreed upon — red, white and black-hulled white. The last frequently goes by the name of African millet. Kaffir corn is used chiefly for a fodder crop, is planted in drills and cultivated like corn or sorghum. Where it is proposed to feed the whole fodder to stock, the crop is cut and shocked as soon as the grain is ripe. Where the heads are to he harvested by themselves various methods of harvesting are used. The yield is about the same as that of corn grown under the same conditions, except in dry, hot regions, where the Kaffir corn will outyield Indian corn. The crop of fodder produces up to eight tons per acre or more, but the seed has a lower feeding value than corn. The grain has been used as an
article of human food, making a meal similar to corn-meal. The acreage of Kaffir corn is about 266,513 acres, and the yield of grain averages annually about 5,169,113 bushels.
Milo maize closely resembles Kaffir corn, but grows to a greater height. It is marked by a heavy foliage and an abundance of suckers. Owing to the fact that it requires a long period to mature it has been found best adapted to cultivation in the Southern States. Two varie ties are grown in the United States, white and yellow.
Durra differs from Kaffir corn principally in the position of the head, which hangs down ward from the end of the stalk, the culm being recurved just below the panicle. This variety includes Egyptian corn, rice corn, guinea corn, etc. The grain is a favorite poultry-food, and the plant has been extensively cultivated in some parts of the United States for this pur pose. It is also valuable as a forage plant.
Jerusalem corn grows to a height of four to eight feet, but produces less forage than other varieties. The grain yield is large as compared with that of other non-saccharine sorghums, but is hard to save, owing to the fact that the grains are without husks and shatter easily. The head hangs downward on a recurved stalk as in the case of durra.
Broom Broom corn is the oldest variety of the non-saccharine sorghums culti vated in the United States. Brooms were made for sale in the United States as early as 1798, and the plant was cultivated for home use for some time previous to this. The usual develop ment of the stems of the seed-cluster adapt it perfectly to the purpose of brooms and brushes, and it is not cultivated for any other purpose, although sometimes fed to stock after the brush has been removed. There are several varieties, whose distinctions depend on the size and coarseness of the plant and the quality of the head. The plants are usually grown in drill rows. The heaviest producers of broom corn are the States of Illinois and Kansas, though considerable quantities are produced in many other States. The American broom corn is su perior to that grown in Europe for purposes of broom manufacture.
Diseases of Sorghum blight (Bacillus sorghi) is a bacterial disease in which the leaves or leaf sheaths are attacked by small red spots and patches of various shades and sizes. The roots are also subject to attack from the same source, and the vitality of the plant is so affected that it is either stunted or killed. The disease is worse on some varieties than others, but it attacks both the saccharine and the non-saccharine varieties. Of the smuts, Ustil ago sorghi and U. reiliana are dreaded. The former attacks the grain, causing it to swell up and burst, and the latter attacks the entire head, converting it into a large black mass which is covered at first by a whitish mem brane. No preventive treatment has been ap plied successfully.
Sorghum Cases have been fre quent, especially in the semi-arid districts, of cattle dying from eating even a little green sorghum, usually a second-growth. Investiga tions carried on by the Nebraska Experiment Station go to show that under some conditions sufficient prussic acid forms in the leaves of the plant to cause the death of an animal. The danger is confined to the feeding of the green plant.