ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF GRASSES 7 
importance as food plants for the white race both in 
America and the Old World. Wheat, oats, barley, and 
rye are usually designated by the American farmer as 
small grains, to distinguish them from corn. Rice is 
usually not included in this loose classification because 
its culture is confined to the moist regions of the coast, 
and it is not found in the grain-growing districts of the 
country. Emmer, spelt, and other species of wheat 
allied to our common bread wheat, are grown in the Old 
World, and the first mentioned is grown to a limited 
extent as a forage crop in America. (See Farmers’ Bul- 
letins Nos. 139, 466.) A classification of the grains with 
their botanical names is given in a future chapter. 
All the grains cultivated in the United States are 
annuals. Certain plants that belong to other families are 
cultivated in various parts of the world for the seed which 
is ground into flour and used for food, and hence might be 
classed as grains. The only one of these used in this 
country is the buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum L.). 
Certain others are cultivated among primitive peoples in 
other parts of the world, as for example, the quinoa 
(Chenopodium Quinoa Willd.) in the Andes. The seeds of 
certain wild grasses, especially the Indian rice (Zizania 
palustris), have been used by the North American 
Indians for food. 
8. Relative importance of the different grains.—The 
grains are used primarily for human food. Scarcely less 
important is their use as feed for domestic animals. 
Wheat and rice are used almost exclusively as human food, 
but all the others are used in part or, in the United States, 
almost wholly for stock feed. In Europe, to a much greater 
extent than in America, barley and rye serve as bread- 
stuffs, while millet (Chetochloa italica) and proso millet 
