160 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



the most fertile. It should be sown 

 broadcast or in drills from the 1st of 

 May to 1st of July. If for hay and 

 sown broadcast, 40 quarts per acre 

 will be required ; if sown in drills for 

 the grain , eight quarts of seed will suf- 

 fice. It will ripen in 60 to 75 days 

 with favorable weather. When de- 

 signed for fodder, the nearer it can 

 approach to ripening, without waste 

 in harvesting, the more valuable will 

 be the crop. 



INDIAN OR GRAND MILLET (Sor- 

 ghum vulgare, Fig. 38). This mil- 

 let is much cultivated in Asia Minor, 

 Egypt, Arabia, the West Indies, and 

 elsewhere. It grows from four to 

 six feet high, affording a large quan- 

 tity of forage, and much seed or 

 giain, which is known as Guinea 

 corn. This is ground into flour and 

 used by the laborers where grown. 

 It is also an economical food for cat- 

 tle, swine, and fowls. It is not 

 raised to any extent in the United 

 States, but might be advantageously 

 introduced into the southern States. 

 BUCK- WHEAT, OR BEECH- WHEAT (Polygonum fagopyrum, 

 Fig. 39), is a grain much cultivated in this 

 country. It grows freely on light soils, but 

 yields a remunerating crop only on those 

 which are fertile. Fresh manure is partic- 

 ularly injurious to this grain. Sandy loams 

 are its favorite soils, especially such as have 

 lain long in pasture, and these should be well 

 plowed and harrowed. It may be sown 

 from the 1st of May to the 10th of August, 

 but in the northern States, this ought to be 

 done as early as June or July, or it may be 

 injured by early frosts, which a*e fatal to it. 

 It is sown broadcast, at the rate of three to 

 six pecks per acre, and harvested when the 

 earliest seed is fully ripe. The plant often 

 FIQ. 39. continues flowering after this, and when the 



FIG. 38. 



