MILLET, ITS VARIETIES, ETC. 39 



of this grain is raised in the most Southern States. The whole pro- 

 duce of the country last year is estimated at 9.483.409 bushels. 

 Great Britain imports annually about 80.000 bushels. France raises 

 annually 25 millions of bushels, and the people use it to a consider- 

 able extent as food. 



MILLET, Panic Grass, Panicum milaceum, or Millium 

 effusnm. C 3, O 2, Graminae, sp. 582. Dh.A. & P. 1-3 ft. This 

 is a species of sorgham and sitaria, which are true grasses. 

 It is cultivated on light sandy soils. It is one of the chief 

 articles of support among the people of parts of India, 

 Arabia, and Syria. In Nubia it is grown to the exclusion 

 of almost every other grain. The panicum millet is the 

 smallest, yet the grains are the most numerous of all the grains ; hence 

 its name, rnille, a thousand. There are two species of this with many 

 varieties. The German millet, as with other varieties, resembles a 

 jointed reed, 3 or 4 feet high. The principal use made of it is in 

 feeding poultry. The Italian millet, a native of India and there called 

 congue, is larger than the last and requires a warmer climate. Fowls 

 and horses are fed with it, and the Italians and others make a dark 

 and coarse bread of the flour. Panicled millet is the species com- 

 monly cultivated. The varieties of this are known by different names 

 wherever it is cultivated. In the West Indies it is called guinea corn. 

 In Egypt it is 5 or 6 feet high, while in some Eastern parts the stalk 

 is from 16 to 20 feet long, and the leaves are 30 inches long. The 

 seed was first cultivated in Switzerland about 100 years since. It is 

 adapted to all kinds of soil, requires little manure and little labor, and 

 does not exhaust the soil in comparison with its abundant crop. 



The drill husbandry is believed to be best for its cultivation. It 

 would prove valuable here in light dry soils and places. The yellow 

 millet seed is by some sold here for puddings, and by some preferred 

 to rice. It is a native of India, and is largely cultivated in China, 

 and some in the West Indies. Millet is sown in May and June, and 

 is ripe in four months. It is not subject to blight, nor is it easily in- 

 jured by rain or drought. Weeding and hoeing during its early 

 growth are all that are necessary. It will keep long and well when 

 cut, if perfectly dry when stored. A species is raised in Borneo which 

 is the chief support of man and beast. It is eaten parched, and even 

 without any preparation. By some it is steeped in water, and by 

 others, more particular, it is cleaned, pounded, and made into a light 

 paste with fat. The juice is often sucked from the stem. The Nu- 

 bians prepare a fermented liquor from it which they esteem as whole- 

 some and nutritious. A good vinegar is also made of it by fermen- 

 tation. The stalks, managed like sugar cane, yield a sweet juice, of 

 which excellent sugar is made. There are three species the Polish, 

 German, and the Indian. 



