Show hints on the cultivation of sorghum mr 11 II mansfield of richland county ohio in a communication to the jl merican twist in relation to the cultivation of sorg ham makes the following suggestions the seed must be matured to grow well prepare it for planting by soaking it say bay in a weak solution of equal parts of chloride of lime and copperas it if practicable prepare the ground well and mark out with a chain instead of a plow the germ of the seed should be just visible A little flour should be mixed with wilh it while wet te prevent sticking together to ether and enable you to see it readily in in covering bf for or planting with a machine the seed mut must be e dry sprouted seed should be covered about 34 3 4 of an inch less would be sufficient if the weather is moist and warm wa rm one of the varieties of the I 1 have found more readily convertible conver table into suwar bugar than sorgho this ma may y be planted the middle middie it of may but the should be planted just as soon as the ground is dry enough certainly not later than the first of may do not let the weeds get the start keep the ground well tilled and clean until in july or until the cane joints the cane should be got further along before midsummer mid summer than is usual for this purpose some of my friends plant in hot beds and transplant and with good success the labor of transplanting not being so great as the first hoeing out of the sorghum sor ghura from among the weeds A good time to cut cane Is when the top or the th e seed panicle has ripened but it dby aby all means be cut before frost let it be shocked upon something that will raise it from the ground and not in too large shocks let it have air grind and evaporate as fast as cut when possible and this may be done if frost holds off i be sure to have an evaporator of sufficient capacity great mistakes have been made by a whole neighborhood r depending on one machine while the cane has waited for its turn it or soured and the syrup I 1 made from it brought discredit upon the whole sorgho experiment exper imen and while dpn up n acors let me here say that herein hareln lies the great secret of success I 1 know of cf but one adapted to the business out of nearly a dozen I 1 have tried and that is cooks cooka baby rocker as it is jocosely called I 1 never could make sugar in kettles but with cooks machine have made as good su sugar ar as I 1 ever saw to secure crystallization a temperature of 90 is required and that must be regular in this township we have made gallons I 1 and our county richland saved during last season alone by the introduction of sorghum |