Arizona republican., 1917-05-20
WHAT TO PLANT NOW

Not a great deal can be done at this time in the way of raising garden truck or grain in the Salt River val lev How then can we make idle land produce something which will help out the food supply. Corn and beans can be planted, say in July, and it is not too early to begin preparing the land noW for these crops but the grain sorghums can be planted at any time.
 GRAIN SORGHUMS The most common of the grain Sor ghums. and the ones that can be rec commended for the Salt River Valley, are milo, kafir, feterita and shallu
 The dwarf milo is planted here nore extensively than any of the others This variety produces good crops, re- duires a small amount of seed Ghree to five pounds to the acre). and as the seed has almost always high germi- hating qualities, a good stand is easily obtained Where the plants grow in rows 31a feet apart and about foot apart in the row, so that the plants do not stool too much, the heads are large, and are harvested at minimum of eX- pense The chief disadvantage of milo is the. low feeding value of the fodder. The grain is nearly equal to corn In feeding value. For best results as hog feed the grain should be ground.
 For chicken feed it has proved very satisfactory.
 Blackbirds are very destructive to
 milo. as well as most other grain sor- ghums, and for this reason it is desir- able to plant where there is a consid- erable acreage in the immediate Vicin- ity, and at a time when there will he a considerable amount maturing. The bulk of the crop is usually planted in
 June, and this may be considered the i best time
 SUITABLE LAND
 Most of the crop of grain sorghum in this valley is grown on grain stub ble following the grain crop. The con- mon method of planting is to irrigate 1 the stubble and plant with lister ! planter In planting with a lister the 1 seed is left in the moist soil and is
 protected to considerable degree by l the depth of the ftrrow which is left 1 only partially filled. The seed will
 usually sprout and the plants come up
 without irrigation, and this is highly | desirable. The first cultivation after 1 the plants are well up is usually with 1 spike tooth harrow. This partly fills i the furrows and levels the ground so l that shovel or disc cultiVator may be i used later
 BETTER WAY TO PLANT 1 Probably a better way is to blow the l stubble and harrow thoroughly, and | then plant with a corn planter, or the l lister can be used here too with advan l tage. Other things being equal the 1 more thorough preparation of the soil i the heavier the crop.
 1 An objection which is often raised | against the grain sorghums is that 1 they are hard on land. While the l amount of fertility actually removed 1 from the soil is not much greater with ! the sorghums than with corn, there is no doubt but that the crop that fol- l lows sorghum is considerable less This
 is due very largely to the poor me- i chanical condition of the soil, after 1 the crop, a condition which is caused
 very largely by the baking of the soil 1 between the rows. and the mass of
 roots around the plant which are hard
 to blow under and slow to decay. The
 mechanical condition can be greatly helped by blowing before planting and by cultivating as long as a horse can pull a cultivator between the rows.
 The methods of planting and culti- vating milo apply to the other grain ! sorghums, kafir, feterita and shallu. Kafir requires longer season and therefore should be planted by July 1st to insure full crop.