SPECIES AND VARIETIES 



[Cf. Kv.-lyii. Memoir*, 1810. ii.. 202; Wright. Mimoin. Ittt. 31* 31 ; 

 {^tluuH Jto.0/ Tarpon, ;-Tari. i Jam. /Si iJTlSft. | |, 

 Do Candolle Or*. Cult. Plant.. 1884, 45; AM Grey, fetmlTftpW JSl 



- 



1904, 155-6; Coventry, Potato < \gri. Jour*. Ind 1900. I 



I , .t iii., 263-5 ; Ind Potato* for London, in Ayr nd.. 1 906. i.. pt. L. 79-to'j 



Butler, Spraying of Potatoes, in Agri. Joum. Ind.. 1007. ii.. pt. L. 9O.1 For micro. 

 copioa] result* consult Hanauaek (Micro. Tec*. Pro-l . .u, I ltrbsr. 



transl.), 1907, 37). 



SORGHUM, /V/-N. ; CIKAMINK.V. A genus of greases which em- D.B.P. 



braces several useful species, as, for exampk tin- import.. } udr vL. pt! UL. 



a cereal, which, after rice, is perhaps the most valuable single article *77-*n. 

 of food in India. The present brief review of information may there- 

 fore commence with a botanical statement of >/ ///,///, /,,,/, , ,,*, . the 

 plant from which the cultivated S. rii/uare (jvdr) is believed to hare 

 originated. [Cf. Watt, Agri. Ledg., 1905, No. 6.] 



S. halepense, /V. , Andropogon halepenn*, Brot. ; Pram. Beng. Plants. 1908. ii., Johnson 

 1204 ; A. Sorghum, subap. halepennt, Haekel, in 1X7., Monog. PKanrr.. 18S9, 

 vi., 501 ; A. (eubgen. Sorghum) halcptnn*. Fl. Br. Ind., vii., 182 ; Duthie. Fodd, 

 Grass. N. Ind., 1888, 40-4 ; Lisbon, Bomb. Grata., 1896, 74. The JohiMon Qnm. 

 Cuba Grass, etc., boru, broham, kdla-murha, galla-jari, podda-jaUapadi, gttdi- 

 janu, kartdl, bikhonda, etc. A tall perennial gram, common through 

 and Burma on cultivated and uncultivated lands. There are two form* 

 in India, which were treated by Roxburgh as separate specie* but exhibited thus 

 in the Flora of British India : 



a. Var. genulna (Andropogon miliactu*, Roxb.). Luboa mention* namu 

 and bhonda as vernacular names for this plant. 



,1. Var. effusa (A. laxus, Roxb. (non Linn.) ). According to Roxburgh, this 

 is the plant denoted by the names kdld-mucha, gadi-janu. He My* it grows in 

 hedges, on banks of watercourses and on land lately cultivated. 



It is considered a good fodder grass both for grazing and for hay, but w held 

 to have frequently poisonous after-effects, especially if eaten when too young 

 or when stunted by drought. In many parts of India it in believed to be injurious 

 till after the rains. The name bikhonda, given to M. *n/rj.ri.r- i n certain moun- 

 tainous countries, may be intended to denote ita evil reputation. The grain is Onla. 

 often collected and eaten, though the plant seems nowhere to be specially 

 tivated. Hamilton, for example, speaks of a kind of bread being made from it 

 in Rajmahal, and Tod (Rajasihan, ii., 170) mentions the seed being oouV- 

 mixed with bdjra and eaten by the poorer clamea in Bikanir. [Cf. Sly, Exotic 

 Drought Resisting Plants, in Agri. Journ. Ind., 1907, ii., pt. ii., 168.J 



S. vulg-are, Pers. ; Holcw Sorghum, Linn., 8p. PL, 1753, 1047 ; Great 

 Andropogon Sorghum, Brot.; Holcus Sorghum, .Rorfc., Fl. Ind., i., 269; A. Hills*. 

 Sorghum, Pram, Beng. Plants, 1204, ii. ; A. Sorghum, *ubsp. Mtivut. Hackd, 

 in DC., Monog. Phaner., vi., 505 ; Fl. Br. Ind., vii., 183. The Indian 

 or Great Millet, Guinea Corn, Turkish Millet, etc., jvdr, (jovar), jondkala, 

 kurbi, chari (stalks), phag, kangra, shdlu, gundia, cholam, talla, jonna, 

 yengara, pyoung, etc. A tall, handsome grass, cultivated throughout 

 India since very remote times. 



Though botanists are agreed that the ;'ud> isderived from .s. 

 it has been dispersed by cultivation to latitudes considerably to the north 

 and south of its indigenous habitat. In most countries it is cultivated 

 between latitudes 45 N. and 35 S. the area of cotton. In India and 



1081 



