Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-04-16

with success in every section of the
| territory mentioned. 1t is affected
| more by drought than many other crops
and does not make as large a yield per
acre. Therefore, its use alone for sill
age is not recommended unless in ex-
| ceptional situations, such as bottom
| lands and coves in the mountains. Sor-
ghum alone makes a larger quantity
| OF silage of very good quality 1t IS
| probably not, quite so high in nutrltlVe
elements as corn, but still it is very
valuable source of roughage, and It's
general cultivation for silage is recon-
mended Some trouble has been exper-
fenced in preserving sorghum silage sat
isfactorily, but this has been due TO
defects in the silo itself or to the fail
ure to let the crop mature before 1t is
placed in the silo. 1t is important to
remember that sorghum is very reten-
tive of it's natural juices, and there is
such an excessive quantity that fermen-
tation is likely to occur if the crop is
| cut and put up before it is at least ripe
enough to be harvested for syrup MAX
ing.
Our experience indicates that corn and
sorghum mixed together make not only
a better yield of silage, but produce
a superior quality of this important
food Corn alone, for instance, VIII
probably make an average yield OF seven
To eight tons of silage. A mixture OF
corn and sorghum will yield probably
ten to eleven tons per acre, while sor-
ghum by itself will make a yield OF
anywhere from ten to twelve tons. we
have known authentic instances wnere
as much as fourteen to fifteen tons per
acre have been obtained from sorghum
grown for silage purposes.
Mt Athens IN
dicates that there is still better COM
bination of crops for the silo than any
! of those mentioned. 1t consists IN
plantine Red Head sorghum saccha-
rine variety in alternate rows with hanr
corn-a non-saccharine sorghum haii
corn is especially well adapted 1or
growth in serni-arid regions. 1t ire
uuently happens that a silage crop mas
to pass through a drought PERIOD Oh
from one month to six weeks uhder
conditions which prevail in the south
eastern states. Sorghum is an excep-
tionaIly fine drought resister and kahr
corn possesses qualities shared by rev
crops in this respect. Therefore
combination of these two is very VaIu-
able under our climatic conditions
These two crops when planted together
will stand almost still for thirty days
during a dry spell, and then when rains
occur grow off vigorously on the
other hand, corn would be stunted TO
degree from which it would not recover,
and hence the yield would be small and
disappointing. Kafir corn is not nearly
so fun of juices as sorghum. In many
respects it possesses the same general
characteristics as corn when used for
silage purposes Therefore, the com"
bination of a saccharine sorghum ana
a non-saccharine sorghum is an ad-
vantage in producing a type of silage
which is easily preserved, much more
so than sorghum alone. These two
crops make larger yields and better
return per acre, therefore, than corn
and sorghum. We have fed this com
bination crop for some years on the
college farm, and do not hesitate to
advise farmers generally throughout all
the territory concerned to use this COM
binat:on crop for the production on
silage with the assurance that 1t Will
produce an article of superior quality
ard make a larger yield than is ordl-
.narily possible.
Sorghum and Kafir corn seed should
be mixed for silage purposes on the
basis of eight pounds of the former to
four of the latter. 1t can be seeded
together in one drill row if preferred
or they can be seeded in separate rows
We have followed the latter practice.
The seeds are verX much the same size
and type and it is not difficult to ad-
just a two-horse planter so as to SOW
the sorghum and Kafir- corn in the
right proportions for a silage crop.
There is probably a tendency on the
part of many land owners to seed them
too thickly. If the sorghum and Kafir
corn could be placed six TO ten inches
apart in the drill the largest yields
~ nf
course. have to practice thicker seeding
than this in order to be sure of OBJ
tanning a good stand. Intensive seed
ing, however, is to be avoided. In so
far as our experience and observation
goes, the white-seeded. black-hulled Ka-
FIR corn is the best to use in this sec
tion of the United States. There should