Todd Fincannon, age 13, of St. Louis, Missouri, for his question:
What is sorghum?
The hundreds of different sorghums belong to the grass family. Their long leaves resemble green ribbons and their seeds look somewhat like clusters of small sized popcorn. They range in height from two to 15 feet tall and before the seed producing season, some species would be mistaken for fields of corn. One of their several valuable products is a sugary syrup called sorghum syrup or just plain sorghum. ~ ~x
Most of the world's valuable plant foods originate in the Americas. But not the sorghums. It is thought that these various tropical grasses originated in Africa, where people still depend on them to provide flour. They also provide food for cattle, mulch for the garden, sweet syrup for pancakes and even tough whiskers to make brooms.
In North America, various sorghums are grown from Texas to as far north as Nebraska. The yearly crop occupies 20 million acres and differ¬ent species are grown for four main qualities. The grain sorghums produce fluffy clusters of round or oval seeds. They may be red or brown, white or buff.
Sorghum grain is not quite as nourishing as wheat, though in parts of Asia and Africa it is a staple human food. In America, its grain is a valuable cattle feed and so are its long leaves and stems. Other sor¬ghum species are grown for their extra juicy stems. They are squeezed through rollers to extract the sweet sap, which is boiled down to make sugary sorghum syrup.
Other species produce large leafy plants, but very poor seeds. Some of these are grown for green cattle feed or dried to make hay. One of the most interesting types is called Sudan grass. In warm; moist climates it quickly grows ten feet tall. Some gardeners sow Sudan grass as a green manure crop. When it grows about a foot high, it is plowed in to enrich the soil with organic material.
Broomcorn is a variety of sorghum that sprouts its seeds on tough, stringy branches. These branches are gathered, dried and woven together to create brooms and brushes. With all of these remarkable qualities, one would expect us to grow more of the sorghums. But as usual, there are reasons. The interesting plants are basically tropical grasses and, though some types can be harvested in Nebraska, most species demand longer summers with plenty of moisture.
Though most of us seldom see fields of sorghum, many southern garden¬ers grow a patch of sorghum as they grow a patch of corn. The chickebs may get the grains. But the juicy leaves and stems are squeezed through rollers to extract their sweet sorghum syrup. Afterwards, the greenery makes a fine mulch in the garden.