Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-09-20
Raising of Sorghum.

Raising of Sorghum.
Mr.. EdtJr;
have received series OF letters written
by a citizen of our county on the raising
Of sorghum and the benefit to be derived
from the building of a sorghum mill AZ
Woodstock. As they will be of general
interest to our people, send them to you
for publication.
To those who are interested and desire
to form a joint stock company for this
purpose. would 90 pleased to have them
call at my office and examine itemlzed
statements as to cost Of mill and the
profit TO be derived, &c.
A.. @. WYNKOoP.
Asa subItitute for wheat the farmer
nnds himself cultivating crop that with
due attention gives him triple product
VIZ: the ledres for fodder, The grain or sea
for feed and The cane or stalk for 'yrap or
sugar. and this too in a crop equally as
reliable as Dent corn and as easily cult
waited. While the general statistics OF
sofghum show an average product OF eight |
tons per acre Of clean cane, result as high |
az sirteen tons on a large scale from ground |
which had been continuously cropped for |
ar years with sorghum has been attained |
and in certain cases nineteen and t~tHiy-
fre tons the latter field cane have been
noted in these instances high grade
special fertilizers ia moderate quantity
were used. The method Of cultivation 10
generally as with corn-some planting IN
rows three feet apart aud at intervals OF
thirty inches while others planted IN
drills. The preference seems in country
like this to be the drill system, as being
less liable to wash ont, and more econom-
icAl. In this system the ordinary farm
machinery ID applicable with little OF no
! alteration and 20 additional expense, to-
gether with large saving III manual Ia
Dor The method ~ used in the west ID
as follows Having prepared your seed
| bed a. for corn or wheat, by thorough
blowing narrowing, &c, 80 as to get tie
ground as fine as possible, you take your
ordinary eight shovel wheat drill aud
having closed all the feed holes leading to
the shovels excepting the ones adjoining
| the ends thus leaving your drills about
forty nch es apart, YOU sc I
your feed machinery to four peoks per
acre ~ with wheat, and you adjust your
| fertilizer feed to the amount you desire to
apply. Then having drawn your shovels
we'll back 20 Az TO SOW the seed well on top
you are ready for planting. This enables
you to seed chesply and quickly aud to
fertilizer at the same time. Should weeds
appear after the termination OF the seed
you may harrow lightly in the direction
of the rows ia the same way as is fire.
ouently done with wheat, 80 as to de-
stroy the weeds IN their incpiency. When
the young plant has reached a heighth
of about four inches, thinning becomes
necessary. To do this YOU again have
recourse to your wheat drill, if the ground
Ia not too wet in which case the hand hoe
must be employed. To thin with the
drill draw the shovels we'll forward 30 as
to run deep, and drill across the rors, thus
! thinning and leaving sufficient intervals
between the plants to insure a good stand.
The remaining cultivation is identical
with that tor corn, a walking cultivator,
devil, double or triple shovel being used
is preferred until the cane is about four
feet high and sufficient to shade the
ground and retard the growth of weeds
| or course the amount OF cultivation will
depend more or less on the season, IN dry
weather cultivAting oftener and IN wet
seasons fewer times. Experience teaches
the adyisability Of planting three kinds
cane 80 as TO have the crop open grail
ually, and not come on tho farmers
hands all at once. The best varieties for
this latitude and those considered at
present the NEST profitable are tho carly
Amber, maturing in eighty TO ninety
days, aud the Kansas Orange and Late
Orange varieties ripening successfully Ia
ter. The White African in also becoming
popular but il new variety and but little
known. The cost Of cultivation and
harvesting, Of course. varies but should
not IN any case exceed that Of corn.
We will conclude this communication
with an extract taken from the report OF
Prot. L. b. Cowgirl, Sugar Inspector OF The
State of Kansas, in Bulletin No Il, L. ;
Department OF Agriculture, 1883, page
30 as follows:
can acre of land cultivated in sorghum
yields a greater tonnage Of valuable prod
ucts than ia any other crop, with the pos
.ble exception Of hay. Under ordinary
methods Of cultivation ten tons OF cleaned
cane per acre ~ somewhat above the aver
age. but the layer varieties often exceed
hcelre1 wkile the small Early Amber some
times goes below eight per acre. l."
,eren and half tons OF cleaned corn pc
acre be assumed for the illustration Inn
corresponds to a gross yield of Ten tons 10
the farmer, and at 81 90 per ton gives hiu
$50. 90 per acre for hls crop. These sever
and a half tens Of clean caue will yield
= POUNDS
Ga. .. 75l
2 hOlHhAtA o