15 



drinks are prepared from the grains, and useful coloring pigments are con- 

 tained in the fruiting glumes. The variety known as Katir corn (PI. I, fig. 2), 

 Avhich grows to the height of 4 or 6 feet, has been cultivated with great succeBS 

 as a fodder plant in the semiarid regions of the West. In fact, all tlie sorghums 

 will grow in drier climates or under more trying conditions of drought than 

 Indian corn. They may be cultivated in much the same way as that cereal, 

 but the seed may be planted more thickly. In chicken corn or white 

 Egyptian corn (var. cernnnm) the densely flowered panicle is abruptly bent 

 or recurved, so that it jioints downward. This variety is largely cultivated in 

 tropical and northern Africa and in some parts of southern Asia, where it is 

 used as a cereal. It is occasionally grown in this coun- 

 try, the seed being prized as food for poultry. The vari- 

 eties adapted for the production of fodder or silage are 

 particularly valuable for cultivation in the South and 

 Southwest. The amount of fodder produced is often 

 very large, of excellent quality, and there are few among 

 the larger grasses better adapted for soiling. Yellow 

 Milo Maize, White Milo Maize, and Jerusalem Corn, non- 

 saccharine varieties of Andropoyon sorghum, are grown 

 both for fodder and for the seed, particularly in the 

 Southwestern States. 



No. 28. Andropogon squarrosus. Linn. fil. Vetivert. 



A stout perennial, 4 to 6 feet high, with strong, fibrous, and 

 highly fragrant roots. A native of India, occurring also 

 in some of the West India Islands and Brazil, growing 

 in marshes and on river banks. Introduced into Loui- 

 siana many years ago, and now spontaneous in some of 

 the lower parts of that State. Cultivated successfully 

 at Knoxville, Tenn., where the fragrance of the rhizomes 

 and roots was developed to a marked degree, but the 

 plants did not bloom. In India this grass is largely used 

 for thatching, and is woven into mats, which serve as 

 screens or shades for doors and windows (tatties), awn- 

 ings, covers for palanquins, and fans, and brushes used 

 by weavers in arranging the thread of the web are made 

 from cither the roots or the whole plant. The roots, laid 

 among clothing, impart a pleasing fragrance to the gar- 

 ments and are said to keep them free from insects. Fans 

 made from the root fibers wei"e among the articles on sale 

 at the World's Fair in the Javanese bazaar. The roots 

 are an article of commerce sold by druggists. In Euro- 

 pean drug stores the roots are known as Badix anatheri or Eadix vetiverice , a stim- 

 ulant or antiseptic. They yield a perfume known as vetivert, or, in India, itar. 



No. 29. Andropogon virginicus Linn. Broom-sedge. (Fig. 10.) 



A rigidly erect perennial, 2 to 4 feet high, bearing a narrow, elongated, and loosely- 

 branched panicle of silky-bearded racemes. The stems are strongly flattened 

 near the base, and at maturity they are too hard and woody to be eaten by stock 

 or to be of any value for hay. When young, however, this grass affords most 

 excellent grazing. Milch cows fed upon it are said to yield butter of superior 

 quality. There is probably no native grass better known to the farmers of the 

 South than this, and although possessing some value, as here indicated, it is, 

 broadly speaking, one of the worst weeds of that section, interfering seriously 

 with the formation of permanent meadows. Constant tillage or very close graz- 

 ing appears to be the only means of keeping this grass from occupying the land. 



Fig. 10. — Broom Sedge 

 (Andropogon virgini- 

 cus). 



