sorghum are large they are apt to retain their juices, which when frozen ferment, and rapid deterioration of the fodder results. Where sweet sorghum is grown for seed for subsequent planting or for sirup two to three pounds per acre are sufficient.

551. Method of Planting.-Any form of maize planter may be used for planting sorghum by substituting special plates. In case special plates are not available the rotary disk plate of the maize planter may be filled with melted lead and bored out the proper size. The wheat drill can also be used as suggested for maize. (305)

"Perhaps the best and most practical is the ordinary grain-drill. As the rows should be thirty to thirty-six inches apart, the holes may be stopped by tacking a piece of pasteboard over all except those which will plant the rows the proper distance. On an eleven-hole drill, by stopping all but the outside holes and the middle one, the rows will be thirty inches apart; or by arranging a thirteen-hole drill the same way the rows will be thirty-six inches apart, providing the distance between the shoes is six inches. A marker may be put on the drill by bolting a twoby-four timber to the middle post of the frame and letting it project behind to fasten the marker to, and pull the other end by a rope or chain from the marker to the doubletree. Or a slat may be fastened to the frame of the drill and project out to the sides in front of the wheels, and a light chain or wire be fastened to the slat to drag in the wheel mark made the previous round, and so adjusted as to indicate the proper distance from the last row planted." 1

Listing is frequently practiced, but more difficulty is experienced on account of the weeds and the slow growth of sorghum than in the case of maize. More injury also is experienced from flooding for the same reasons.

552. Cultivation. The principles underlying the cultivation of sorghum and the tools used are the same as those for maize, the only difference being that greater vigilance must be exercised to prevent weeds from getting a start. (312) The land should be kept harrowed sufficiently before the sorghum comes up to prevent weeds getting a start, and after it is up may be harrowed with a weeder or light harrow as suggested for maize. 1 Rpt. Kan. St. Bd. Agr., March, 1900, p. 56.

(299) While the plant is between three and eight inches in height it will stand harrowing better than maize.

553. ENEMIES OF SORGHUM.-Weeds are especially troublesome to sorghum on account of its slow early growth; but there are none that are not common to maize. The sorghum plant is attacked by maize rust (Puccinia sorghi Schw.) and also by smut (Sphacelotheca sorghi (L. K.) Clint.), which frequently does much damage to broom corn by producing its black smut spores in the seeds. It may be controlled by soaking the seed for fifteen minutes in hot water at 135° F.1 or by the formalin treatment. The principal insect enemies are the chinch bug (151) and the plant louse. (333)

554. Time of Harvesting.-The stage of maturity depends upon the purpose for which it has been raised. When raised for grain the seeds are allowed to become thoroughly mature, which usually happens while the stem and leaves are still green. Plants may stand in the field in this condition for several weeks without material injury, although there will be some loss from the shattering of the seed. It is desirable, however, especially when use is made of the fodder, to cut and shock it as soon as the seeds have become thoroughly mature. With broom corn, brush of a light color is desired and is obtained by cutting as soon as may be after the pollen has fallen. The early cut brush is also said to be heavier and more durable. The milk stage is as late as it may be safely allowed to stand, although in California seed is allowed to ripen, greatly to the detriment of the brush, as much as a ton of seed per acre being obtained.2

555. Method of Harvesting.-No thoroughly satisfactory method of handling the crop has yet been devised, especially in humid regions where there is some difficulty in keeping both the stover and the grain. It may be cut and shocked after the manner of maize by any of the methods recommended for that crop. (342) In some cases the header has been used, which gathers only the heads and leaves, the stalks standing in the field. In other cases the heads are removed by hand with a

1 Ill. Bul. 47; 57.

2 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bul. 174, p. 17.

corn knife, thrown directly into the wagon box, and afterwards stored in narrow, well ventilated maize cribs.

556. Threshing.-The heads of the Kafir variety are frequently fed to cattle without threshing. In some cases the whole heads have been ground with fairly good results. For threshing Kafir varieties, the ordinary threshing machine is used, the concave being taken out and a blank concave or smooth board being put in its place in order not to break the grain. In some cases only the heads are fed into the machine, these having been removed in the field or subsequently cut off on a chopping block with a corn knife. In other cases merely the heads of the fodder are put into the machine and removed; while in still others the whole fodder is allowed to pass through the machine. The latter practice is not considered desirable on account of the readiness with which the shredded stover deteriorates.

557. METHOD OF HARVESTING BROOM CORN.-The brush of the dwarf varieties of broom corn are pulled by hand instead of being cut by knife. The brush is then laid in piles on the ground. On this account rainy weather during harvest is very disastrous to the crop. With the standard varieties of broom corn a method known as tabling is practiced. The rows of broom corn are bent over a distance of thirty inches from the ground toward each other but at an angle of 45° from the direction of the rows. The brush is now cut at a distance of six to eight inches from the base of the brush with a shoe knife; care being taken not completely to sever the upper leaf sheaf or "boot" when cutting the culm. The brush is then piled on each alternate table, thus leaving the intervening table over which the wagons may enter the fields to remove the brush.

558. PREPARING BROOM CORN FOR MARKET.-As rapidly as the brush is cut it is hauled to the cleaner, where the immature seeds are removed, the brush instead of passing through the teeth of the cylinder being carried in front of and at an angle with it in such a manner as not to injure the brush. Machines are made requiring twelve to fifteen men to operate, which will clean thirty to forty acres a day. There are itinerant machines, but it is more satisfactory for the grower to own his own machine because of the superior quality of brush which can be obtained by prompt handling. The cleaned brush is placed two to three inches deep on slats in open sheds in order to dry rapidly without exposure to rain or strong light. As soon as dry enough so that no moisture can be removed on twisting the stems, which will be in two to four weeks, the brush is piled in compacted tiers to prevent bleaching. When dry it is compressed with a machine similar to a hay baler into a bale, by overlapping the heads, thus leaving the stem end at each end of the bale. A bale

varies in weight from 300 to 400 pounds, averaging about 340 pounds. The brush is sorted at any convenient stage of the process. The most crooked brush can best be discarded in the field, while final sorting may be made just before baling. The production of broom corn is best engaged in by those who make it a specialty after having studied the business carefully in all its details.

IV. USE AND PRODUCTION.

1

559. Use. As a food for horses, cattle and swine, sorghum seed is not considered the equivalent of maize. It is less palatable and cannot successfully enter so exclusively or so continuously into their diet. On account of their more highly carbonaceous character large quantities of leguminous foods should be fed. The seeds are somewhat astringent, especially in the red Kafir variety, and when fed in large quantities cause constipation. As a food for poultry it is highly prized. As a food for calves raised on skim milk it is highly commended both because of its high proportion of carbonaceous material and because of its tendency to overcome scouring. After a number of feeding trials, the Kansas Station concludes that the best way to feed the grain to fattening hogs is to place it unground into the feeding troughs and to pour over it sufficient water so that a small quantity will be left after the hogs have finished eating the grain. The purpose of the water is to lay the dust which, when the grain is fed dry, causes the hogs to cough severely. For cattle and horses the grain is usually ground, but whether grinding is best has not been experimentally determined. Large quantities of sorghum are raised for the fodder, handled after the manner of maize fodder, or sown thicker and cut less mature as hay. It is also used for soiling, for which it is highly prized, for silage and for pasture. While large quantities of the nonsaccharine sorghum are used for this purpose, sweet sorghum is recommended as preferable. In the Southern States, where sorghum is sown as a hay crop, sometimes two and even three crops are harvested in one season; the plant, when cut

1 Kan. Bul. 33, P. 40.

immature, possessing the ability to throw up new culms. Sweet sorghum is also used for the production of syrup, and formerly for the production of sugar, for which it is well adapted. The production of sugar from sugar cane and from sugar beets being more economical, the production of sugar from sorghum has been practically abandoned.

The seed of both Kafir corn and broom corn has been used to a limited extent in the production of flour. Although bread of an inferior quality may be made from it, it is chiefly used for the production of griddlecakes.

560. Danger from Use.-Many cases have been reported of animals dying suddenly from eating second growth or frosted sorghum. This was formerly believed to be due to bloating, and deaths may perhaps occur from this cause; but it has been pretty well demonstrated that deaths occur from violent poison which is found in sorghum of stunted growth. This poison is now believed to be due to prussic acid. Investigations of the Nebraska Station show that the prussic acid is not present as such but that it is liberated as a glucoside by an enzyme in the plant. It appears that this glucoside is always present in the plant, but the plant is harmless except under conditions which favor the action of the enzyme. The conditions which favor action of the enzyme are not fully understood; but it is believed that dry, clear weather, by arresting the normal development of the plant, is the chief cause of the formation of abnormal quantities of poison.1

561. SORGHUM SUGAR.-During the past twenty-five years the production of sugar from sorghum has been thoroughly studied, and several plants have been established in different States for its manufacture. While a considerable quantity of good sugar has been produced, most of the factories have been unsuccessful financially. Some of the difficulties have been:

I. A rather small yield of cane. The yield of cane has varied under normal conditions from about five to ten tons of clean cane per acre.

2. A low average percentage of sugar in the cane. The percentage of sugar is much more variable than in sugar cane or beets. The other solids are higher. 1 Neb. Bul. 77.