8 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



{Panicum miliaceum) are used for porridge or mush. In 

 America the latter grains are fed to stock only. Certain 

 varieties of sorghum furnish an important part of the 

 human food-supply in Africa and China, while in this 

 country other varieties, such as kafir, are used as stock 

 feed. The most important grain is wheat, which is nearly 

 all made into flour, forming the principal breadstuff. 

 Corn is next in importance, furnishing a large part of the 

 feed of domestic animals and serving also to a considerable 

 extent for human food. Oats are produced chiefly for 

 feeding horses, though some goes into oatmeal for human 

 food. 



In this country barley is raised chiefly in the cooler 

 regions, and is of importance as a food for stock in those 

 regions where, because of the short growing season or 

 for other reasons, corn cannot be successfully grown, as in 

 much of the West and Northwest. Large quantities are 

 also used in the brewing industry. Rye as a grain is of 

 comparatively little importance in the United States. 

 Rice is of secondary importance in America because, 

 requiring for its cultivation a warm climate and land that 

 can be flooded, the area adapted to its growth is limited 

 in extent, being confined to the low coastal region from 

 North Carolina to eastern Texas. A variety known as 

 upland rice is being grown in Louisiana and eastern 

 Texas on drier land and is cultivated and harvested in 

 the same manner as wheat. In the warmer parts of the 

 Old World, especially in southeastern Asia, rice is the 

 most important food plant grown. 



9. Value and production of the cereals. — The value 

 of the different cereals produced in the United States in 

 1909, excluding buckwheat, is shown in the following 

 table: 



