The Ordway new era., 1912-04-19
GRAIN SORGHUM CROPS
Important Because Of Drought
Resisting Qualities.
Certain Varieties. Such ~ kaf1r, Milo.
Durra and kowlians Better Yield.
ers In Seasons Of Limited
Rainfall.


ronomist. United States Department
OF Agricuiture.)
Grain sorghums are important dry
farm crops because OF their well
known drought resistance. This ea.
ables them to produce crops Of grain
where other crops fail. What We ca:l
drought resistance Is probably high
ability to prevent the loss of water
through the leaves and other tissues
OF the plant. 1t may also be connect
ed with strong development OF the
root system. 1t Is now known that
the plants which we call drought re-
sistant are not able to extract any
more water from dry soil than those
which are not able to resist drought
very extensively.
1t has been proved that certain var.
ieties or strains OF the different grain
sorghum crops. such as kafr. milo.
durra and kowliang. are better yield
ers than other varieties or strains, es-
pecially In seasons OF limited or poor.
ly-distributed rainfall. These superior
strains are no more drought resistant
than are the inferior strains. but are.
for one reason or another. drought
evasive. This is very important to the
farmer. 1t is doubtful whether drought
resistance can be readily or rapidly
increased. 1t is possible. however.
for every grower Of grain sorghums to
take advantage Of the characters or
habits OF these crops which make
them able to evade or avoid drought.
Some OF the characteristics Of the
crop which enable 1t to escape
drought are earliness Of maturity and
dwarfness Of growth. Conditions out
side the plant itself which may assist
In drought evasion are thin planting
and. perhaps. early planting also.
In the recent succession OF dry sen
sons in parts Of the plains region. 1t
has commonly been noted that dwarf
varieties. early varieties and varie-
ties which are both dwarf and early
have been able to mature larger crops
of grain than taller and later varieties.
There Is n reason. without doubt. A
dwarf variety requires less water than |
a taller one. The larger the plant. the |
more water 1t requires and the more |
It is likely to lose by Transportation. A |
small plant which can produce as
much grain as a large plant will thus
have real advantage In n dry sea.
son. This Is not true drought resist
ance but merely a lower water re-
quirement which permits drought eva.
sion. .,l |
The year 1909 was marked by
severe drought in July, August and
In the southern half Of the |
great plains. At the Amarillo expert. |
ment farm. in Texas. II plats OF milo |
gave an average yield Of 6.S bushels
and ten plats Of dwarf milo an aver
age yield of II bushels to the acre.
The best plat Of milo yielded at the
rate OF only 16.5 bushels. though In q
low piece of ground. while the best
lwarf milo yielded 23.2 bushels per
acre. This advantage seems to be
largely due to the smaller size OF the
plants OF the dwarf variety and the
lower water requirement.
The effect Of earliness in permitting
drought evasion Is very important.
Consider two plants, one earlier than
the other, but otherwise similar In all
respects. The earlier plant, having
a shorter growing period, not only
uses less water, but uses 1t earlier IN
the season. This is OF especial I'M
portance in those parts OF the semi
arid country where much OF the sea-
sonal rainfall occurs in April. May,
and June. The earlier plant might be
able to mature its crop Of seed on the
summer rainfall. On the other hand,
trh 1,a or{r lnl ot
critical stage Of its growth by the
exhaustion Of the soil moisture during
dry weather in August.
Mi]os are earlier than kafirs, but
are not known to be more truly
drought resistant. At Amarillo, Tex,
under conditions Of severe drought
from the middle Of July until October,
1903, the milos yielded on the average
8.3 bushels and the kaflrs only 5.5
bushels to the acre. In each crop
the figures are the average of between
20 and 30 plats and show that the diff
ference was really in the earliness
land perhaps the dwarfness, also) of
the milos as compared with the kaf1rs,
the yields In normal years being about
equal.
The season Of 1910 was still drier,
only ten inches Of rain falling at Anna
rillo from January to October, inclu-
sive. Better yields were obtained
than in 1909. however. because the
average stands were much thinner.
Under these conditions 80 plats Of
milo and dwarf milo yielded an aver
age of 17.9 bushels per acre, while %
| plats of ordinary blackhull and red
kafirs yielded only 81 bushels. The
| difference in average yield is 14.2
bushels. Even If we admit that half
of this difference is due to the dwarf
er growth of the milos compared with
| the standard kafirs. We still have a
| gain Of IL bushels due to earliness