276 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



tivated in Italy, Spain, and the southern part of France, for the food of 

 men as well as that of poultry. It may also he raised in this climate. 

 This is a plant that delights in a light sandy soil, prepared in the same 

 manner as for maize ; and in such lands it branches out into many 

 stalks, sometimes thirty or forty, riot unlike reeds either in their shape 

 or leaves, of which there is one at each joint. The top of each stalk 

 is terminated by a large, loose panicle, which hangs on one side, with 

 a chaffy flower, which is succeeded by a small round seed, about the 

 bigness of a turnip or cabbage seed, of a yellowish white color in one 

 variety, and of a dark red inclining to black in another, which are the 

 small millet, and the large, a distinction which some make, as only 

 varieties of the same species. It is likewise said to thrive extremely 

 well in strong land ; but will not do in stony ground, or where the 

 bottom is of either a chalky or clayey nature. 



Miller advises, that it should be sown in the beginning of April, 

 that it may ripen in August ; but in warmer climates, the general 

 rule is to sow it either between the middle and the end of May, or 

 about midsummer. The former crop is reaped at the end of Septem- 

 ber, and the latter about the end of October. The seed is usually 

 sown in furrows, very thin, and covered with the plough or rake. 

 The largest sort should be sown thinnest, because it branches most. 

 When the plants are about a month old, the ground should be stirred 

 round them with a hand hoe, as well to lay fresh earth to their roots, 

 as they require much nourishment, as to clear them from weeds, 

 which they afterwards prevent by over-topping them. At the same 

 time, the millet plants should be thinned out wherever they grow too 

 close, so as to leave in general, about six inches between each plant. 



MINERAL. In Natural History, is used, in general, for all fos- 

 sil bodies, whether simple or compound, dug out of a mine. Minerals 

 are inorganized or inanimate bodies, that increase in volume by the 

 juxtaposition of parts, and the force of attraction. The early natur- 

 alists divided minerals into a great number of classes ; but, by the 

 moderns, they are divided only into three sections.. Under the first 

 are arranged earths and stones which have no taste, and do not burn 

 when heated with contact of air ; under the second, saline matters, 

 having more or less taste, which melt in water, and do not burn ; 

 and under the third, combustible substances, not soluble in water, and 

 exhibiting a flame, more or less evident, when exposed to a fire with 

 access of air. 



MIRROR. Mirror is used for any polished body that forms the 

 images of objects, by reflection of the rays of light. Mirrors are either 

 plain, convex, or concave. The first reflect the rays of light in a 

 direction exactly similar to that in which they fall upon them, and 

 therefore represent bodies of their natural magnitude. The convex 

 ones make the rays diverge much more than before reflection, and 

 therefore greatly diminish the images of those objects which they 



