GRASS AND RAY 111 



regarded as well adapted to the upland soils of the cotton regions, 

 Common Millet being best for the light soils and German Millet for 

 low, heavy soils. 



The foxtail millets not only endure excessive heat and sunlight 

 well, but make very rapid growth if the supply of moisture is not too 

 limited. They are, however, very susceptible to cold, particularly 

 when the plants are young. The length of time required to reach 

 maturity varies a greafr deal, according to the variety and the soil and 

 the climatic conditions, the commonly grown varieties ordinarily 

 being ready to cut for hay in from fifty to eighty days from date of 

 sowing and maturing seed in from ten to fifteen or twenty days later. 

 Under very favorable circumstances some of the varieties may be in 

 condition to cut for forage within a month or six weeks from time of 

 seeding. 



Varieties. The various foxtail millets commonly found on the 

 market in the United States may be grouped under the following 

 standard varieties: (1) Common Millet (Chsetochloa italicd) ; (2) 

 German Millet (Chastochloa italicd) ; (3) Golden Wonder Millet 

 (Chsetochloa italica) ; (4) Hungarian Millet (Chastochloa italica var. 

 germanica) . 



Common Millet. Synonyms: Small Millet (Texas), Califor- 

 nian Millet (Salzer, Vilmorin), Dakota Millet (in part, of some seeds- 

 men), Early Harvest Millet or Missouri Millet (at least in part), 

 American Millet (in part). Common Millet was one of the first 

 varieties to be introduced and to come into general cultivation in the 

 United States, but there seems to be no record of the exact date of its 

 introduction. At the present time it is the most widely cultivated of 

 the foxtail millets in this country. It is the hardiest of the com- 

 monly grown varieties, enduring drought the best and giving better 

 returns on poor soils. By most feeders the hay from this variety is 

 preferred to that from others on account of its finer quality, there 

 being less loss in feeding it. Although German Millet will usually 

 outyield Common Millet under favorable conditions of soil and mois- 

 ture, the latter will, one year with another, afford more forage of a 

 finer quality in most localities in the Northern States. Common 

 Millet is one of the earliest of the foxtail millets, and is the most 

 constant in its character. German Millet makes a heavy yield of 

 forage under favorable conditions, but does not stand drought as 

 "Well as the smaller varieties, such as Common Millet and Hungarian. 

 The hay is coarser and less highly valued than that from the smaller 

 millets, but when the forage can be fed in the green state this will 

 be found to be an excellent variety to grow, on account of the heavy 

 yield. German Millet is the latest of the varieties commonly grown 

 here, and is exceedingly variable in its appearance and habit of 

 growth. It is very seldom that one sees a field that is uniform in 

 character. Many, perhaps most, of the heads may be typical of the 

 variety, but usually there will be many others scarcely to be distin- 

 guished from Common Millet or other standard varieties. Typical 

 German Millet brought from the South soon becomes very much 

 modified when grown in the North. Thus, in a northern strain of 



