MILLETS 91 



the plants are able to take care of themselves. Much heavier 

 green crops can be obtained by this method, and, moreover, 

 they can be easily harvested by machinery. It is very 

 necessary to exercise great discretion when feeding succulent, 

 green feed to stock, more particularly during the first few 

 days, as it is safer to give too little than too much. 



MILLETS. 



Hungarian Millet (Setaria italica) of which there are many 

 varieties, including those known as French and Italian, are 

 excellent, rapid-growing nutritious grasses, with compact, 

 bristly seed heads. They attain a height of from three 

 to four feet or more, and form large masses of strong, fibrous 

 roots, drawing their nourishment largely from the surface 

 soil, and when grown on newly broken up land have an 

 ameliorating effect upon it. Millets give the largest returns 

 when cultivated on rich, friable, loamy soils. Where a heavy 

 yield is expected the land must be thoroughly worked and 

 brought to a fine tilth before the crop is put in. In the warmer 

 coast districts the seed may be sown any time from September 

 to January, but in the cooler parts October to December will 

 be found the best time. The precise tune to sow the seed in 

 those months will be when the weather and soil conditions 

 permit, if dependent on rainfall. The seed may be drilled in 

 or sown broadcast. Generally there is little, if any, choice 

 between the two methods when the crop is grown for green 

 feed or cut for hay, except that the drilled in seed usually 

 results in a more even growth, and a little less seed is required. 

 Where the crop is grown for grain or ensilage, it is advisable to 

 drill the seed in. By this method it takes ten pounds weight 

 of seed to sow an acre, but if sown broadcast fifteen to twenty 

 pounds will be required for the same area. Well-tilled, rich 

 land will require less seed than that which lacks fertility, and 



