GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 193 



weighed ten tons green, and one and a half tons dried. The growth was simply enormous, 

 thus: First crop, -in forty-five days, gave thirty tons green, or six and a half tons dry; second 

 crop, in forty-five days, gave fifty-five tons green, or eight tons dry; third crop in forty-five 

 days gave ten tons green, or one and a half tons dry, the aggregate weight being ninety- 

 five tons of green fodder in 135 days from date of sowing, and sixteen tons when dried to 

 hay. This exceeds the clover meadows of Mid-Lothian, which, irrigated by the sewage from 

 the city of Edinburgh, and cut every four weeks, gave an aggregate of seventy-five tons of 

 green clover per acre. 



&quot; There is little doubt that pearl millet is equally as nutritious as corn fodder, which it 

 resembles even more than it does any of the other millets. We found that all our horses 

 and cattle ate it greedily, whether green or dry. If sowing in drills is not practicable, it may 

 be sown broadcast, using double the quantity of seed say sixteen quarts per acre. The 

 ground should be smoothed by the harrow, and again lightly harrowed after sowing; if 

 rolled after harrowing, all the better. I know of no farm crop that will better repay high 

 manuring, but so great is its luxuriance that it will produce a better crop without manure 

 than any other plant I know of. In those parts of the Southern States where hay cannot be 

 raised this is a substitute of the easiest culture, and, being of tropical origin, it will luxuriate 

 in their long, hot summers. Even though our Northern seasons may be too short to mature 

 the seeds, our experiments in New Jersey this summer show what abundant crops may be 

 expected if the similar conditions are secured. Pearl millet as a fodder plant presents a new 

 feature in our agriculture, and I feel sure that within ten years we shall wonder how we ever 

 got along without it. Besides our own testimony given above, we have received the most 

 satisfactory letters from experienced men in different parts of the country to whom we sent 

 seeds of pearl millet for trial, and all are unanimous as to its enormous productiveness and 

 great value. From all we have seen and can learn, we are fully convinced that pearl millet 

 is to be one of the great fodder plants of the future.&quot; 



Farmers should bear in mind that it is a tender annual, and must not be planted until 

 the weather is settled warm. Wherever and whenever corn flourishes, it will yield bountiful 

 crops of fodder, which cows, horses, and other farm stock are exceedingly fond of. It is 

 equal in nutritive value to corn fodder, while its yield is greater. The fodder is in the best 

 condition for cutting and curing when the stalks are five or six feet high; but, if used for 

 soiling, it may be cut earlier or later, at the convenience of the cultivator; the stumps, sprout 

 ing and throwing up a new growth, continue to grow until killed by frosts. The seed should 

 be sown at the time of sowing corn (and not earlier), in drills four feet apart. Sown in this 

 way, two -pounds of the seed will plant an acre. 



From all we have been able to learn concerning pearl millet, we judge it to be a desir 

 able acquisition to our forage plants, and that with suitable soil and proper cultivation it 

 will abundantly repay the farmer for the care bestowed upon it, in those sections where the 

 climate is well adapted to its luxuriant and rapid growth, and even as far north as some por 

 tions of New England will prove a profitable crop for cultivation. 



Favorable reports of experiments in its cultivation have reached us from portions of the 

 country farther north than New England even, and from the vicinity of Montreal, Canada ; 

 but we doubt whether in the latter latitude it will prove a generally profitable crop to the 

 farmer, owing to the shortness of the season, and the cooler temperature. 



Indian Corn or Maize as a Forage Plant (Zea mais.) Though one of the most impor 

 tant and abundant of the cereals, this plant belongs to the order Gramineae, or grasses ; and 

 while we shall speak of it elsewhere as a cereal, we refer to it in this connection merely as a 

 forage plant, which, when cultivated as such, is extremely valuable, being very nutritious, 

 and an almost indispensable crop, not only in summer when the drought may greatly reduce 

 the supply from the pastures, but also to be cut and cured for winter use. Cattle, and in 

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