ELEUSINE 

 CORACANA 



Bag! 



THE EAGI MILLET 



districts of greatest importance are Salem, Coimbatore, Cuddapah, North Arcot, 

 South Arcot, Trichinopoly, Anantapur and Vizagapatam, in the order enumerated. 

 Mysore. The Mysore districts are Mysore, Tamkur, Bangalore, Kolar, Hassan, Chitaldrug 

 and Kadur. As with other economic products so with this millet, Buchanan- 

 Hamilton (Journ. Mysore, etc., 1807, i., 100-3, 285-6, 297, 369, 375-8, 403 ; 

 ii., 103-4, 254) is a valuable writer. The Deccan Mussulmans, he says, 

 Varieties. call it rdgi, the Tamil people kevir, and the farmers say there are three varieties 



the cari, kempu, and huluparia. It is, near Seringapatam, customary to sow 

 all three kinds in the same field. When the rains begin in June the field is drilled 

 and Eien*iiie and Cnja-nun sown as a mixed crop. To appreciate the value of 

 Buchanan-Hamiliton's account of this millet, the passages indicated above must 

 be consulted. They have, however, been reviewed and amplified by Lewis Rice 

 (Mysore Oaz., i., 1897, 107-12, a work which is probably more accessible than 

 the original). Ragi is by far the most important single food crop of this State, 

 Dry Soils. especially on dry soils. It supplies the lower ranks of society with their chief 



food. The total area under food crops is usually 5 J million acres, of which rdgi 

 alone occupies fully half. 



Very little, however, can be added regarding the South Indian cultivation 

 of this millet, to the account given in the Dictionary. Stuart (Man. N. Arcot, 

 Four-month 1895, i., 267-8) says it is a favourite four-month crop, the grain being largely 



Crop. used by the labouring classes. It is not a dainty food, but very nutritious. There 



are four varieties. It is grown both on irrigated and unirrigated land, but most 

 commonly in that which is commanded by a well. When dependent upon rainfall 

 alone it is sown so as to get the benefit of one or other of the monsoons, that is 

 from May to June and from October to December. Under wells and tanks it is 

 sown and reaped throughout the year. Only the ears of rdgi are cut as they ripen, 

 and, being heaped together for two or three months, the grain is beaten out with 

 sticks or trodden underfoot by cattle. It should be kept some months before 

 being used. 



Utilisa- MANUFACTURES. Incidental allusion has already been made to some of 



tions. the edible preparations of this millet. It has the advantage not only that it may 



be left standing on the fields till a convenient time for harvesting, but the grain 

 Preserving improves by being stored and may be preserved for many years without either 



Quality. being attacked by insects or becoming mouldy. These are circumstances of 



the greatest possible value, and have justified this millet being accepted as the 

 most desirable for storage against times of scarcity and famine. It is moreover 

 Paying Crop. one of the most productive of grains and one which will give a paying crop on 

 soils from which hardly any other food can be obtained. It is essentially, there- 

 fore, to large tracts of India, the staple food of the poor, and, though not appreciated 

 Milled. by fastidious tastes, is nevertheless wholesome. The seeds are milled and the 



" tailings " (the bran formed of the seed-coats) constitute an article of food with 

 the very poor and one which is fairly largely used in the jails of South India. 

 Husked Grain. [Cf. Agri. Ledg., 1899, No. 4.] The husked grain is reduced to flour and baked 

 into cakes or boiled into puddings (about the consistency of blanc-mange). This 

 is often improved by being cooked along with one-third rice or cholam flour. 

 Church (Food- Grains of Ind., 1886, 89) has given attention to the chemical com- 

 position of both the grain and the tailings of this millet. Lastly, numerous writers 

 Beer. allude to a beer and spirit prepared from the grain. One of the earliest and most 



curious passages on this subject is that given by Baber (Memoirs, 283, 294). This 

 has already been alluded to, but the Emperor's remarks regarding the people of 

 Sewad, Bajour and the neighbouring countries, who make a peculiar kind of buzeh 

 Kim.. (or beer)may be here quoted: "There is a substance which they call Hmcomposed 



of the tops of certain herbs and of various drugs. They make it round like a loaf, 

 and then dry and lay it up. This kim is the essence from which the buzeh is made. 

 Many of the potions composed of it are wonderfully exhilarating, but they are 

 terribly bitter and ill-tasted. I had thought of taking this buzeh, but, from its 

 extreme bitterness, was unable to swallow it : I then took a little mdjun." The 

 Drinking- Emperor repeatedly refers to his special drinking-parties, held not infrequently 



parties. on board pleasure boats, and the gusto with which he narrates his experiences 



might easily enough have originated the English expression " bousing " or 

 deliberate intoxication with buzeh (beer). Mr. (now Sir Arthur) Wollaston tells 

 me that buzah or buza is Turkish, meaning a drink prepared from corn, and 

 that it had been adopted into Persian with the meaning ale or beer. Shaw 

 (Travels, 1757, 407) says : " Besides the use that is commonly made of barley to 

 feed their cattle, the Egyptians, after it is dried and parched, make a fermented 



520 



