Cultivation of the " Sorgho." 313 



repaid its cost, while in addition to the foregoing, the flour ob- 

 tained from the seeds was found to furnish a highly nutritive, 

 wholesome article of diet for man. Dr. Adrian Sicard, to 

 whom the agricultural world is indebted for a very exhaus- 

 tive analysis of the Chinese sugar-cane, has established, by 

 conclusive researches, that its leaves are also specially adapted 

 for the manufacture of paper, as well as for various colours 

 or dye stuffs. As to the remunerative value of the Sorgho ^ 

 it is more than 230 per cent, more j^roductive than beet-root, 

 which in France produces on the average 2160 kilogrammes 

 per hectare, while the Sorgho makes a return of 5000 kilo- 

 grammes. 



The mode of cultivating this useful plant differs in no re- 

 spect, as we repeatedly had occasion to observe, from that of 

 maize or Indian corn. The season for sowing varies with the 

 temperature of the country, between the months Aj)ril and July. 

 The seed when sown in the beginning of April will be ripe 

 about the middle of August, or in 135 days, while that sown 

 in mid- July will not be ripe before the end of November, or 

 about 140 days. In France the experiment has been made 

 of bathing the seeds in tepid water for periods varying JBrom 

 24 to 48 hours before sowing, which resulted in a much more 

 speedy bringing forward of the plant. In like manner ex- 

 periments were made of sowing the seeds with and without 

 their husk, the result of which was that the former took 15 



days, and the latter only 10 days to sprout. It is recom- 

 ■voL n. 2 L 



