The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-05-13
SORGHUM FOR STOCK FEEDING

One OF the things you should not
neglect this spring is the planting of
a good-sized patch OF sorgum for feed
ing purposes. In dry weather eSpeci-
ally, it will make more feed to- the
acre on ordinary land than any other
crop you can grow; and while it is
not balanced feed by itself, it fits
in admirably with the cowpeas, soy
beans and peanuts you should also
plant
There are various methods of
planting sorghum for feeding pur-
poses. 1t is often sown broadcast,
cut when heading and cured for hay
1t is frequently sown with peas, say
a bushel of peas and half peck of
cane seed to the acre. This combi-
nation makes a lot of forage and is
splendid feed; but whoever handles
the mass once viii not try for the job
again. In our opinion, it is better
to SOW the peas and the sorghum
separately and then use each as need
ed. The old notion that some other
crop must be sown with cowpeas to
help In their curing has been proved
to be an error by hundreds of in
stances. Personally, we would rather
cure either peas or sorghum alone
than to make hay out Of the combina-
tom.
The best method of raising Sor-
ghuun for feed. In our experience. is
feet apart with corn planter, using
about a gallon of seed to the acre.
The soil should be rich to make
good crop; but cane will come nearer
producing fair crop of forage on
poor land than, probably, any other
crop except cowpeas, and is perhaps
the greatest drowth resister we have.
The fertilization needed is practically
The same as for corns and the culti-
vation is also the same-frequent,
level and shallow workings.
When the seed is beginning to rip
en- we cut the cane as close to the
ground as possible and put up in
rather small shocks just like corn.
After the blades have cured the cane
may be stored, standing, under shell
ter and will keep in fine condition
until Christmas, or even later. II
piled up it may mold, and when kept
too long it dries out or sours and be-
comes less palatable.
Sorghum grown and handled thus
is an excellent feed for all classes OF
stock. Being SO rich in sugar, it is a
very fattening food, and will put
young stock in the pink of conditions
when used in connection with more
heterogeneous feeds. Stock are fond OF
it,, too, and horses, mules, cattle of
hogs will clean up practically every
bit of it. We have found that the
big, juicy stalks grow this way are
eaten better than the small, woody
ones when it is sown thickly.
Sorghum may also be sown or
planted in rows for hogs to Craze off
there is some danger in grazing it
while young with cattle, but only
hogs CT some weight should be ex-
pected to tear down cane stalks of
good size. 1t doesn't pay to make
the animal you wish to fatten work
for his living.
The seed may be fed to the stock
with the rest CT the plant or cut off
and saved for market or for poultry
feeding.
Sorghum, like corn, is an exhaus-
tive crop, and should on most farms
be grown only on comparatively
small areas; but there are thousands
oil. farms all over the South which
should have a patch this year for
feeding to the stock In connection
with the legumes and cottonseed
meal. Southern Farm Gazette.