13 



In Gujrat kangni and swank arc mixed with maize crops on well lands 

 and ripen before the maize. 



In Jhang sdnwak is grown to a small extent for horse fodder on wells. 

 In Muzaffargarh it is grown on canal and well lands, mostly as a food 

 crop, but it is sometimes used green for fodder. This millet is also grown in. 

 hill districts. In the Dictionary of Economic Products, volume VI, part I, 

 page 9, the quick-growing saildb crop, samukha, sown in Jhang, Mianwali and 

 Muzaffargarh in land newly left by the river, is treated as the same plant as 

 sdnwak, but possibly this may be a mistake. Pandit Hari Kishan Kaul, has 

 informed me that the main difference is that samukha has a black seed, while 

 that of sdnwak is white. Samukha may perhaps be one of the panicums men- 

 tioned below. The account of its cultivation given on page 106 of the Mu- 

 zaffargarh Gazetteer may be quoted : 



" As the rivers recede in August and September they leave large flats oE (juicksand or 

 rather quick-mud, which will not support a man. The sower taking a ghara of seed enter as the 

 mud, supporting himself on the ghara, and scatters the seed over the mud. As the mud dries 

 the plant springs up and produces grain in October. The grain is small and inferior. Kirars 

 eat it on fast days. The straw is considered excellent fodder." 



Samtikha is grown mostly for fodder. The crop returns for 1910-11 

 show 2,500 acres as under sdnwak in Gujranwala and 1,019 in Gujrat. In 

 Kangra sdnwak is included in an area of 1-1,475 acres shown as under " Other 

 cereals." Jhang returned 2,453 acres of sdnwak and 491 of samukha, Mian- 

 wali 46 of sdnwak and 504 of samukha, and Muzaffargarh 790 of samukha.- 



The wild grass, sdmcak Panicum colonum, is useful fodder when it is 

 young, and Hindus eat the grain on fast days (Hissar Gazetteer, page 10, and 

 Karnal Gazetteer, edition of 1890, page 22). Panicum crus-galli, called LJiarti 

 in the Hissar district, is also a fodder grass. If the crop described as shdm'ikh in 

 the crop returns of the Hoshiarpur district, and which there occupied in kharif 

 1910 an area of 3,146 acres, is not Panicum frumentaceurn, it may be a culti- 

 vated variety of one of these wild panicums. 



26. Panicum helopus : natural order, Graminece. For botanical des- 



cription sec Duthie's " Fodder Grasses of 

 Northern India," page 8. Duthie states 



that it is an excellent fodder grass for both horses and cattle, and that it is 

 found chiefly on cultivated ground in the plains, and occurs on the Himalaya 

 up to about 5,000 feet. It is cultivated to a small extent on well lands in. 

 Jhang and Muzaffargarh, and is used as fodder for horses. 



27. Panicum jwnentorum, a native of tropical Africa, is a rich fodder 



grass. It is best propagated by dividing 

 the roots. It has been cultivated ex- 

 perimentally in the Punjab, but has not become an established fodder crop. 



28. Oryza sativa : natural order, Graminea. For botanical descrip- 



tion see Field and Garden Crops, part I, 



page 15, and plate IV. 

 Chemical composition of hitsked grain is 



Per cent. 



Water ... ... ... ... 12'S 



Albuminoids ... ... 7'3 



Starch ... ... ... .... 783 



Oil ... ... ... ... 



Fibre ... ..-. ... ... '4> 



Ash ... ... 'G 



The straw is called pardl or pardli. It is not threshed with the grain. As 

 fodder the straw is very poor, but in rice tracts it is given to the cattle faute 

 de mieux. It ought to be reinforced with green stuff. In Karnal the pardli of 



