8 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
(Panicum miliaceum) are used for porridge or mush. In 
America the latter grains are fed to stock only. Certain 
varieties of sorghum furnish an important part of the 
human food-supply in Africa and China, while in this 
country other varieties, such as kafir, are used as stock 
feed. .The most important grain is wheat, which is nearly 
all made into flour, forming the principal breadstuff. 
Corn is next in importance, furnishing a large part of the 
feed of domestic animals and serving also to a considerable 
extent for human food. Oats are produced chiefly for 
feeding horses, though some goes into oatmeal for human 
food. 
In this country barley is raised chiefly in the cooler 
regions, and is of importance as a food for stock in those 
regions where, because of. the short growing season or 
for other reasons, corn cannot be successfully grown, as in 
much of the West and Northwest. Large quantities are 
also used in the brewing industry. Rye as a grain is of 
comparatively little importance in the United States. 
Rice is of secondary importance in America because, 
requiring for its cultivation a warm climate and land that 
can be flooded, the area adapted to its growth is limited 
in extent, being confined to the low coastal region from 
North Carolina to eastern Texas. A variety known as 
upland rice is being grown in Louisiana and eastern 
Texas on drier land and is cultivated and harvested in 
the same manner as wheat. In the warmer parts of the 
Old World, especially in southeastern Asia, rice is the 
most important food plant grown. 
9. Value and production of the cereals.—The value 
of the different cereals produced in the United States in 
1909, excluding buckwheat, is shown in the following 
table: 
