YOL. XXXI. Part 5. MAY 3. 1920. 



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Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales. NEW YORK 



BOTANICAL, 



Broom Millet Seed as Feed for Stock. 



H. WENHOLZ, B.Sc. (Agr.), Inspector of Agriculture. 



From time to time spasmodic attempts have been made to utilise broom millet 

 . seed as a grain food for stock, but beyond a little use being found for it on 

 farms where broom millet is grown for the hurl or fibre for broom-making, no 

 serious attempt has been made to place it on the market as a feed grain until 

 the high prices that have ruled in recent years for maize, wheat, and other 

 grains have drawn attention to it as a neglected asset. 



At the present time of grain shortage in New South Wales, it is quoted on 

 the market at £10 or £11 per ton, and with maize at 9s. 6d. and wheat at 

 8s. 6d. per bushel, it is somewhat in demand, more especially by poultry- 

 farmer.x. At this price it may be said that broom millet seed, if of good 

 qunlitv, is a comparatively cheap feed, not only for poultry, hut for many 



■ other kinds of stock (horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs), if fed judiciously. 



The factors to be considered in assigning a value to any foodstuff are not 

 -only its chemical composition, but its digestibility and palatability, and the 



■ ease and cheapness of its preparation, handling, and storage. Judged by the 

 first three factors, there is no doubt that broom millet seed would have a 

 high value, but its most serious drawback is the uncertainty of its safe 

 storage under ordinary conditions. 



Storage of Seed. 



The difficulty with the storage of broom millet seed is due chiefly to its 

 being regarded only as a by-product or an asset of secondary importance in 

 the production of the broom millet crop. 



This crop is mostly produced on the Hunter River, but also to some extent 

 on other parts of the North Coast, in the Tarn worth and Tumut districts, 

 .and a little on the western slopes. 



At the time of harvesting the seed is never fully mature, although the 

 tendency of late years is to allow the seed to develop fairly well before 

 ■cutting. Nevertheless, the seed contains considerable moisture however 

 late cutting may be delayed in order to ensure good fibre. After curing 

 in the field, the seed is hackled from the heads, and the usual practice is to 

 store the seed in bulk in the barn as hackling and baling proceed. Not only, 

 then, has the seed still a high moisture content, but at this time of the year 

 (jate summer or early autumn) the humidity of the atmosphere is high, and 

 .{on the coast at least) the insect pests of grain (weevil and moth) have 

 most ideal conditions for rapid development. The conditions are therefore 

 C> favoiirable for great damage by heating and by injury from insect pests, 

 O^ ,so that without some special care it is not long before the whole mass 



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