The Florida agriculturist., 1907-10-23
Value of KaMr Corn.

We have grown Kafhr corn and
found it a profitable crop, the seed was
extra good feed for poultry and the
leaves furnish excellent forage tor
horses or cattle. The following from
the Journal Of Agriculture tells more
about it:
Feed for Hogs-The Kansas AMI
Oklahoma agricultural experiment sta
tons have shown that ground Kafflr
corn is nearly equal to corn meal as
fattening ration for hogs. The most
economical grains at the Kansas sta
ton were secured by feeding a ration
containing a small proportion of some
feed rich in protein. No accurate tests
have been made of the grain Of the
other nOnsaccharine varieties for hog
feeding, but there is no reason why
they should not give fully as satisfac-
tory returns as Kaff1r corn. Hogs
soon tire Of Kafir meal when it is fed
alone, but when fed with alfalfa hay or
some other feed high in protein, or
when the hogs have the range Of alfalfa
pasture, they eat the Kaff1r corn as
readily as corn. Dry, whole Kafflr
corn has proved more satisfactory
feed than the soaked grain, but wet
Kaffir meal has given slightly better
returns than dry meal. Excellent re-
suits have been secured from feeding
Kafir meal moistened with skim
milk, as the skim milk provides the
necessary protein in addition to making
the meal more palatable.
Feed for Sheep-Very few tests have
been conducted by the agricultural ex-
priment stations in the feeding Of
these grains to sheep, nor have many
farmers had experience along this line
Tests made by the Kansas agricultural
experiment station have shown prac-
tically the same gain from feeding
Kafflr meal as from shelled corn, alfalfa
hay being used as rOughage in both
cases. The grain should be ground for
feeding to sheep. Feeders in the Texas
Panhandle, however, have secured quite
satisfactory results from feeding the
grain in the head, using mi1let and
sorghum hay as roughage.
Feed for Horses-Kafir corn and
milo are usually considered rather less
heating than corn, and for that rea-
son make letter feed for horses during
hot weather or when the animals are
doing hard work. Kafir corn is al ex-
cellent grain to feed with alfalfa hay,
as it counteracts the loosening effect
Of the hay on the bowels. Where both
milo and Kaffir corn are largely grown,
farmers differ as to which is the bet
ter grain for horse feed 1t is prob
able that mixture of the two is slight
ly better than either alone The usual
practice is to feed the grain in the
head, though it is sometimes threshed
or crushed. Considerable waste will
be prevented if the heads are run
through cutter before feeding. The
fiber helps to tighten the ration and
make the grain more digestib1e.
Feed for Poultry-The seed of all
the nonsaccharine sorghums ranks high
as poultry food. For fattening fowls
the grain is about equal to corn and is
much superior for feeding to laying
hens. AS the fowls get considerable
exercise in picking the grain out of the
heads, it should not be threshed for
feeding to breeding stock In feeding
the threshed seed the best plan is to
scatter it in straw or litter, thus caus-
ing the poultry to scratch for it. The
threShed grain should be used for feed
ing to fowls which are being fattened.
Seed of the various sorghums forms
large part OF many of the poultry
eeds on the market.