MX WwhTOMp. 



TUM. 



PANICUM 

 SPECIES OF MILLET MI LI AC HUM 



P. Crus-galll, Linn. : rmr. />N*M>MfrrM(M. 7VWn ; Prain. / 1177; P. fru- Poor-man's 



'6. ; Duthie and Full.-r. Fitld ami (farden Crop*. 1882. ii.. 3-4, Millet. 

 Minim-. A',,././. I;,,UK. \ Ind., 8; Lisboa. I.e. H. The hamula. kama. 

 name, sanwa, jhungara, mnndira, banti, chamalu, etc. A tufted annual, extensively 

 'ultivated as a rainy-season c-r-.p .,v.-r the greater ]..> > the 



Himalaya tip to 0,500 feet. In The Bower Manuscript (HoernJe, trao&l.. 151) 

 mi-lit ion is made of " gruel made of tyanuika." and this has been regarded as 

 d.-n-iinj the present 'millet. The MS. in question was f . near 



Khoiun. and is of the 8th century. 



This in the quickest-growing of ail the millet*, and in some localities can be 



! MI thin nix weeks of being sown. It thrives bent on light sandy 

 Hanrrji-i l ; /n. ('attack, 1893, 70) says it often follows leangu (*n ..... /' 



oil '- | i'.ucl !< I t \\irt-, and the seed sown broadcast in the middle of May to 



M ! of June. In about a month and a half the land in thoroughly weeded. 



i- i-f<|iiii-fil till about the middle of August, when the crop is out. Of 



th<- I'nitrd Provinces, Duthie and Fuller state that it is sown at the commence* 



t the rainy season and a spring crop usually follows it. The seed if 



sown at the rate of 10 Ib. to the acre, and the young plants require at least two 



weedings. In the drier regions of the Doab it is frequently grown as a sub- 



nnliiiatf rrt'p with jmtr s,,,.//. .., ,..//.... I .. yield varies from 8 to 10 



muimds grain to the acre. In Bombay the area devoted to it in 1905-0 was 



acres. Mollison (Textbook Ind. Agri., 1901, iii., 01) states that the land 



is prepared as for bdfra (r<-nt**t<,i,, r !//' ""'"). The seed is drilled with 



a four-coultered plough in June-July at the rate of to 8 Ib. to the acre. The 



rows are about 12 inches apart, and the plants should be thinned out where the 



seed is sown too thickly. The crop is weeded and intercultured with the bull 



hoe as with bdjra. It ripens in September-October. In the Deocan it is usually 



grown on poor, light upland soil where the rainfall is moderately heavy, and on 



such land a yield of 400 to 500 Ib. grain and 1,500 Ib. straw is a full average crop. 



The grain is consumed chiefly by the poorer classes, with whom it has the 

 special merit of ripening early. It is eaten boiled in milk or is parched. Leather 

 (A,iri. Ledg., 1901, No. 10, 368; 1903, No. 7, 150, 178) gives the following 

 analysis : moisture, 7'72 ; oil, 4'39 ; albuminoids, 7'06 ; soluble carbohydrates, 

 67'56 ; woody fibre, 7'44 ; soluble mineral matter, 1-70; sand and silica, 4' 13 ; 

 total nitrogen, 1'lS ; albuminoid nitrogen, 1*13. In the Madras Presidency and 

 in Mysore the straw is much used as a cattle FODDER, and in the Meerut district 

 it is sometimes grown as a fodder crop. [Cf. The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, 

 transl.), 1893-7, 137; Church, I.e. 49; Basu, Agri. I^hardaga, 1890, pt. ii.. 

 Rice, Mysore Gaz., 1867, i., 114-6; Mukerji, Handbook Ind., Agri., 1901, 259.] 



P. maximum, Jacq. ,- Prain, Beng. Plants, ii., 1179; P. jumentorum, Pera. ; 

 Duthie, I.e. 9; Lisboa, I.e. 18-22. Guinea Grass, gini gawat, geneo-pullu, gini 

 hullu, nanka-thau-hau, etc. A tall perennial native of Africa, and now cultivated 

 in India. 



Is best propagated by root cuttings. A sandy soil is most suitable. After 

 the ground has been prepared in the ordinary way, the roots should be planted 

 out 2 feet apart on the flat, at the commencement of the rains, care being taken 

 to arrange them so as to form lines at right angles in both directions. If planted 

 at any other time, the field should be inundated with water immediately after 

 planting. When the crop is established the rows should be ridged up in the 

 direction of the slope. Subsequently, according to Mollison, Guinea Grass 

 can hardly get too much water or manure, but the water must not be allowed 

 to stagnate. The best manure is well-rotted farm-yard, and it should be ap- 

 plied in dressings of at least 5 tons per acre every fourth time the crop is nit. 

 Crops are cut about eight times in the year, and plantations should be renewed 

 every three years. Of the Poona and Surat Farms, Mollison says that it has 

 been known to give outturns of 20,000 to 35,000 Ib. per acre according to season. 

 [Cf. Dept. Land Rec. and Agri. U. Prow. Bull., 1897, No. 6; Mollison, I.e. 233-0; 

 Leather, Agri. Ledg., 1901, No. 10, 368; 1903, No. 7. 156, 170.] 



P. miliaceum, Linn.; Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, ii., Common 

 l-2 r t. xxiii.; Duthie, Fodd.'Grass., I.e. 9; Lisboa, I.e. 16. Common Millet. ] 

 chena (or chens\ chin phikai, sdican-chnit'ra. <nme, sdlan, tze<! >-ari, 



katakanai, vardgu, bili baragu, etc. This grass is supposed to have ben 

 introduced from Egypt or Arabia. It is grown in various parts of the 



843 



Pood. 

 Ohwntotay. 



Fodder. 



Guinea 

 Grass. 



PUnting. 



Irrigation. 



Mnui*. 



