Minor Cereals, Oil-bearing and Leguminous Seeds. 147 



a little below barley in feeding value. Sorghum culture is partic- 

 ularly recommended in warm districts where Indian corn may 

 fall short of giving fair returns for lack of sufficient moisture in 

 the soil, and where hot ; drying winds are common. In the corn 

 districts proper, useful as the sorghums are, they will never seri- 

 ously rival Indian corn. (547-8, 861) 



196. Broom-corn seed. In districts where broom corn is grown, 

 large quantities of the seed are annually wasted through ignorance 

 and carelessness of the growers. Broom- corn heads are cut before 

 the seed has fully matured, and as the latter is usually removed 

 before it has had time to become thoroughly dry, it easily ferments 

 when left in heaps, and is wasted. With a little care in drying 

 the seed may be saved as is other grain, or it may be kept as silage, 

 either in a regular silo or simply covered with earth, as was shown 

 to be practicable by Miles l years ago. Broom- corn seed will 

 prove satisfactory for feeding cattle if used in reasonable quantity. 



197. The saccharine sorghums. At the Wisconsin University 2 

 the writer, experimenting with sorghum for the manufacture of 

 sugar, secured seed as a by-product at the rate of from twenty-seven 

 to thirty-two bushels per acre; this seed weighed fifty-one pounds 

 per bushel. 



At the New Jersey Station, Cook 3 secured seed at the rate of 

 1,300 pounds per acre from sorghum cane grown for syrup. 



Concerning the statement that sorghum seed contains tannin, a 

 bitter principle which renders the seed unfit for feeding stock, 

 Wiley writes: 4 " A careful examination of sorghum seed has 

 failed to discover the presence of tannin, and the only possible 

 injurious principle which it can contain is the coloring matter of 

 the glumes." (643) 



198. Millet. Millet is grown in South Europe, parts of Asia 

 and in Africa for human as well as for animal food. At the Mas- 

 sachusetts (Hatch) Station, 5 Brooks grew 37.2 bushels of millet 

 seed, weighing forty-seven pounds per bushel, on a half acre of 

 land. Different varieties yielded as follows: 6 Panicum ital- 



1 Country Gentleman, March 23, 1876. 



2 Rept. on Amber Cane and the Ensilage of Fodders, 1881. 



3 Kept, 1885. 



* Rept. U. S. Dept. of Agr., 1889. 

 5 Bui. 18. 6 Rept. 1892. 



