Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-10-27
Grow kafir And Milo

WASHINGTON, ID. G., Oct. 27.-TheI
milo, and fctrerita, should he greatly in
creased this year, the United States de-
partment of agriculture advises. There is
need for abundant production If all crops
usd for stock feed or human food or both.
In the central corn belt corn will he used
largely Ia replace winter killed wheat. In
the western half or tw~o-thirds of Kansas.
of Oklahoma and of Texas, where winter
killing of wheat was most serious, the grain
>urehums are safer crops than corn. They
are now staple crops in this southern part
of The Great Plains area. the grain sorghum
belt. In this section their acreage should
he expanded to the limits of available land.
Tins u no time Ia experiment. Grow the
crop that l. >urcst. Grain sorghum can be
grown with less moisture than corn and
viii withstand longer and severn drouths.
These sorghums can he sown throughout
May and milo and dwarf milo are fairly
safe when sown n late a. June Is. or 20,
except on the high plains in the western
part Of these states. SorghumS 10 not ger
inmate well IN cold. wet soils and should
not he sown until ten days or more after
corn- planting time. Ground should he free
from weed before sowing the Sorghum, a.
early growth = slow and they may be
-mothered by vigorous weeds.
II takes only 4 little seed fer an acre.
Three 10 four pounds of good seed are
enough. Much Of the seed grown in 1916
- of only fair quality, and has a rather
low termination. More Of such seed should
higher the elevation and the lower the rain
fall the thinner the seeding should be. Use
n corn planter fitted with special sorghum
plates.
Milo and fetcrIta are earlier than kafir
and can he sewn later. and also farther
north than kafIr. The plants usually are
smalled than katlr plants and can make =
grown ON newly broken sod. Use mostly
kafir in the lower and more humid dis
%trict~. say below 1000 feet elevation. Use
kaflr. milo. and f~cterita hot wccn ~ and
1000 feet elevation. On the higher and
drlcr plains n milo. especially dwarf milo.
In other words. 1t l. best not To grow kafir
in the western third cf Kansas and in the
~PanhandIes Of Oklahoma and Texas. ex-
ccpt for Sila.c or forage.
katir. milo. and f-tcrita NAV be used
n feeding grains. ~ fodder. or n Silagc.
The grain i liked by all kinds of stock and
poultry. IT. feeding value is about nine
tents that of corn. Recently. new uses have
developed for the grain in the making of
alcohol aud Yeast. kafir has 4 high fodder
value even when the grain j. allowed To
mature. The stalks and leaves of milo and
~ieteriia ripen with or before the grain and
have bat little fodder value when the grain
j. fully ripe. All grain ~oryhum> make
good >Ila-c. Since grain sorrhum> and
beef cattle are grown in the same districts
the grain should he fed much more cxtcnly-
sively where 1T l. grown. thus saving han
ding and freight charges.
The grain If the white >cdi variety IL
excellent for human food. ID makes a meal
similar "a corn meal and can b. used in
every way hike corn meal. either nv itself
or mixed with wheat flour. The grain can
be popped like popcorn.
A. the grain >or-hums can he used both
for stock feed and n human food. there
should he no difficulty in using all that
- grown and safely harvested this year.
In the districts mentioned every available
acre of upland that can be effectively han
died should he >own in grain sorghums. On
bottom lands here and on upland even far
Their east IN the state named 4 small acre
are Of kafir j. y good insurance against
tho effect ,f ,Irnuyht