751 



United Stales of America. — The American rice, though originally 

 imported from the old worid, is now much the finest in quality. The 

 Carolina sample of E. T. Heriot is magnificent in size, colour, and 

 cleanness, and has been awarded a Prize Medal. A beautiful 

 sheaf of beardless rice is also exhibited. Maize is a more im- 

 portant crop in North America than in any other civilized country, 

 being used most extensively for stock feeding ; as flour for cooking ; 

 and in various forms at table, green, as well as ripe ; toasted, boiled, 

 or baked. The collections from America are very fine, particularly 

 that of B. B. Kirtland, who exhibits 34 varieties, amongst which are 

 to be found samples of nearly all those usually cultivated in the United 

 States. A Prize Medal has been awarded to him. 



Millet and other small Grains used as Food. 



Under this head, besides millets, the Jury have considered buck- 

 wheats : neither are well represented in the Exhibition, though of 

 great importance in many parts of the world. 



Buck-wheat belongs to the temperate and arctic climates, and is 

 cultivated in Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and most abun- 

 dantly in Central Asia and the Hiraalayah ; in the latter country the 

 different varieties are grown at various elevations, between 4,000 and 

 12,000 feet. The finest samples exhibited are from Canada, by E. 

 Trenholme : they are deserving of especial notice, and Honourable 

 Mention. The United States, Russia, and Belgium, also exhibit 

 small samples of good qualities. 



Millets, again, are tropical or sub-tropical crops ; in India they hold 

 a second rank to rice alone, and in EgyJDt, perhaps, surpass all other 

 crops in importance. In West Africa they are the staff of life. The 

 Egyptian samples are the finest; and those numbered 90, 91, and 92, 

 exhibited by H.H. Ilham Pasha, are deserving of Honourable Men- 

 tion : they belong to Holcus sorghum and H. saccharatum, and are 

 known to Europeans as " petit mais." 



From India various samples are shown of the different species of 

 Panicum, but not labelled in the manner such an instructive collec- 

 tion should be. 



Ceylon exhibits millet of fair quality. 



The red and white millets of Austria, Russia, and the United States 

 are beautiful, particularly the Russian samples, exhibited by Lieut.- 

 Gen. Ershoff, of Panicum Italicum and miliaceum, to which a Prize 

 Medal is awarded. 



Turkey abounds in small grains, and exhibits a large variety of 

 them ; but the samples are insufficient and dirty. 



