12 



the areas are generally insignificant. Mr. Purser wrote on page 115 of the 

 Montgomery Settlement Report : 



" Two varieties of this crop are recognized, Jcangan and l-angni, but they differ only iir 

 size, as kangan is larger and coarser than kangni. Kangan is rare. The straw .... 

 is called pardl or pardli. It is not broken up like turi. It is considered good strengthening 

 food. The grain -. . . . is used as an article of diet." 



In Jhang " patches are grown on wells for fodder by samindars who 1 

 keep horses, but the grain is seldom threshed." In Lahore kangni is grown 

 sometimes for fodder and sometimes for grain, and the fodder is considered good. 

 In the Simla Hills it is sown in poor lands, and the grain is boiled and eaten like 

 rice, while the straw is fed to cattle during the winter. 



China. 



24. Panicum miliaceum : natural order, Graminece. For botanical 



description see Field and Garden Crops,, 

 part II, page 1, and plate XXIIL 



The chemical composition of the husked grain is 



Per cent* 



Water 



Albuminoids 



Starch 



Oil 



Fibre 



Ash 



12-0 



12-6 



69-4. 



3-6 



1-0 



1-4 



Outside the hills and one or two of the south-western districts this i* 

 a very unimportant crop. As regards its cultivation in Jhang and Multan the- 

 following extracts may be given 



Steedman's Settlement Report of Jhang, page 94 



" China as a crop is largely grown on well lands. Two crops are reaped in the year,, 

 the first in Jeth and Har, the second in Magghar .... China requires a large quantity 



of water The first china crop is used chiefly as fodder. It is very rarely 



threshed. The second china crop comes in useful for the wheat sowings. The crop is 

 sometimes pulled up or cut half ripe, as much grain beaten, out as can be, and the straw used for 

 fodder. More generally the second crop is allowed to ripen .... If there have been 

 good rains and grass is plentiful, the whole of the china will be allowed to ripen ; if there has- 

 been but little rain and grass is scant, the whole crop may be used as fodder." 



Multan Gazetter, edition of 1901-02 



"China is a crop which has nearly trebled in area since 1880 and now represents- 

 1*5 per cent, of the cropping of the district. This increase is entirely due to its popularity on 

 the Sidhnai Canal, where it has been extensively grown both in the zaid rabi and in the kharif 

 harvest, about one-third being shown in the revenue records against the former .... 

 . . The crop is mainly used for food, but a certain portion of the zaid rabi is employed as 

 fodder also. As a food the grain is inferior . , . It provides the poorer classes with a 

 cheap if somewhat distasteful food." 



In Simla the straw is fed to cattle in the winter. In 1910-11 the area 

 under kangni and china amounted to about 56,000 acres, china being the more 

 important crop. The only districts in which the area under kangni exceeded 

 1,000 acres were-- 



Sialkofc . 

 Kangra . . . 

 Rawalpindi ... 



Acres. 

 3,395 

 2,920 

 1,538 



25. Panictmfrumentaceum : natural order, Graminece. For botanical" 

 c , . ,, *...,* % description see Field and Garden Crops.. 



banwak, synonym swank, samukha, jhandru (Kangra). j T T i i -rr-tr-r^-r 



part II, page 3, and plate XXIV. 



For chemical composition of unhuskcd grain see Church's " Food-grains 

 of India," page 49.. 



