The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-05-06
A New Corn.

It is not generally known among
farmers in this part of the country,
we believe, that a new grain crop has
been introduced into the Western
States and is winning it's way very
rapidly into favor in some Of them.
The grain in question is known as
"Kafir c%orn," and more resembles in
character and appearance, we believe,
the grains Of millet, or broom corn, or
sorghum, than those Of the familiar
Indian corn. 1t seems, however, to
answer all the purposes of Indian corn
and has some advantages, notably
those Of yield and Of ability to stand
drought which have served to induce
many of the Western farmers to cul-
tivate it extensively with Indian corn
or in place of it,
A dispatch from Topeka, Kansas,
to the New York Sun two days ago
reports that it is only three years
since the first few acres. scattered over
a few counties in the western part Of
the State, were planted in the new
grain by way of experiment, but that
it had proved so satisfactory that
nearly 200, 900 acres were planted last
year, and that the crop was valued by
the tax assessors at 81, 169, 900. This
year, it is further stated, the crop will
be more than doubled as compared
with that Of last year, and the dis
patch adds:
MANY of the large cattle men all
over the State, some of them in the
best corn counties in the great Arkansas
Valley, have planted their last corn,
and will hereafter depend entirely on
the kafir corn for both fodder and
grain for f%attening their cattle. It is
probable that Kansas will raise more
of this crop during the coming.season
than all the rest of the world. These
facts are causing not a little stir
among the millers, who are expert
menting to determine what are the
uses to which the new grain can be
put. One roller mill in Mcpherson
County has already ground thousands
of bushels, while other mills have
made very decided progress toward
turning the kafir corn into meal and
-four.
SAT the best hotels and restaurants
in the large cities car nov be had
delicious biscuits, mullins and griddle
cakes, and they never fail to receive
the enthusiastic endorsement of
epicures. 1t is safe to predict that in
the very near future kafir corn will
supplant Indian corn, buckwheat and
graham -four, and will become even
more popular than all Of them as a
healthful, economical food for man."
It is more esteemed as a food for
cattle and hogs and horses, we believe,
than for man, and some very interes-
ting reports have been made as to the
immense yields that have been OBJ
tanned in favorable localities. The
special va of the plant, however,
over and abb all the other advantages
claimed for it, is due to it's ability to
withstand protracted spells of dry
weather, and make agood cropin spite
of them, and it is this quality that has
especially commended it to the regard
of the farmers of the semi-arid regions
beyond the Mississippi.
If any Of our farmers have expert
mented with the crop already we
should be glad to have reports from
them for the instruction of their less
progressive neighbors, and if no such
experiments have yet been made in
this State it would appear to be good
policy to give the new grain atrial this
season and see what account it will
give of itself on soil and in a climate
that has beaten the worlds record for
Indian corn.-NeDs and Courier.