The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-04-02
KAFFIR CONSIDERED MOST DEPEND
ABLE PANHANDLE CROP.

Goodwell, Okla, March 2S Three
years experimenting with kafTlr. mile
and feterita at the Panhandle Agricul.
tural Institute, at Goodwell, Okla
shows kafir TO be the most reliable
grain sorghum for the dry land Sec
tion. President S. W Black, whose
painstaking investigations into the rel
ative value Of grain sorghums has
helped to solve the agricultural prob
lem of the Panhandle. gives kafIir the
first place, based on the total amount
Of grain and fodder yield The variety
which has yielded the most consistent.
ly is dwarf black-hulled white kafiir
White dwarf milo Ia Professor Blacks
second choice, based upon WELD OF grain
as well as fodder, and Feterita comes
last
Experiments at the Panhandle Agri-
cultural institute have shown that IL is
best To rely on kafir and milo for the
largest gross tonnage Of feed, while
he 'rita's chief distinction lies In its
aoiiity to produce grain heads in dry
year. though its yield of fodder is al
ways less than that OF kaffir and milo
The comparative yields per acre Of
tne three grain sorghums for 1912 and
1919 respectively, az measured at the
Panhandle Agriculture Institute, fol-
ows:
l9l2-Milo, 70 bushels, 0 tons of fod-
der.
19l2-Kafir, SO bushels, 10 tons OF
fodder
19l2-Feterita, As bushels, l.2 tons
OF fodder.
The 1912 was better than normal,
having 1928 inches OF rainfall.
For l9lt.the merits of kalir, milo ar d
ietsrita at the Institute were found 10
be as follows:
l9l3-Kaiir, 80 bushels, IL tons of
fodder.
19l3-Milo, 2s bushels, 4 tons OF fod-
der.
1913 Feterita, IS bushels, l 1-2 20 2
TONS OF fodder
Feterita required eighty to eighty
dive davs to mature; Dwarf kafir eigh-
ty five to eighty-six and white Dwarf
Milo eighty to eighty-tw days Con-
litions OF culture were about the same
ia each crop.
During the four years OF experiment
at Goodwell kaffir has yielded about
twice as much fodder as feterita, the
latter being too light and the leaves
TOO few to compare with kafir, which
IS densely covered with heavy leaves
duch OF the kafir in 1913 did not head
in the Oklahoma Panhandle because OF
che drouth aud feterita really with
food the dry spell better.
In field OF twelve acres Of feterlta
grown at the Panhandle Experimental
station at Goodwell, Okla, FIVE distinct
types OF heads were found The
ground had been summer fallowed and
shs previous crop was oats. The land
vas listed eight inches deep in Octo-
ser across the direction OF the prevail
,n0 wind TO catch the snow and winter
rain and to prevent the soil from being
blown away by the wind Different
varieties of seed were planted In ono
tenth acre plats so as to aid in testing
the best strains. Great credit in this
work belongs to Professor +. Payne,
former instructor Of agriculture in the
Panhandle Agricultural Institute A
prolific strain was found with argr
ieads and broad leaves which will br
Ieyeloped this year. A three acre
ield of Feterita was planted on ground
which previously had been in cowpeas,
pOtatoes and peanuts and yielded at
the rate OF twenty-six bushels an acre
, ielded three tons an acre. The or gi-
ual seed says Professor Black came
Co his school from the government and
WAS classed as Sudan Durra.
"In the three years we have expert
neated with feterita, milo and kafir,
We have found dwarf white milo to be
the most dependable OF the grain sor-
ghums for this section" said Professor
B ack "ln 1918 milo led and in 1911
dwarf white milo exceeded feterlta 10y
10 per cent and the brown milo ex
ceeded feterita by ~ per cent. Kafiir
made twice as much fodder as feterits
j 20 1918, the leayes Of the latter grain
Oring light and lew The heuviesi
rainfall IN tbs section Of the Panhan-
lie is in May, June, July and Angus t
and the greatest precipitation for this
period was eighteen inches, in 1905
and the lowest twelve inches, in 1910
In 1905 the rainfall for the year was
81 32 inches aud for 1910 eleven inches.
has ought to show any intelligent