892 



PRACTICE OF AG HI CULT I' HE. 



Part II i. 



nnd pro».\ ihnt I r.rfilil v.lvc tliein .til this troiil.lo, thej miwiM 

 t.11, ■ God bleat yon t Star; you in tha ba*t nlsia] th< Ini 

 t. i mid btijnv excvptal) u, .it erer ndmlnifttcnd tolhi 



und.' u . !i. r 1 . n, thli 1 dofbr them wn ; Id ihdi 

 husband . the leathern aprona may be 



BonTerted Into ■pattHdashai Ibr iIh-th, the w.irni milk 



Wtad i)«tD a pafrit1J( rf.tr .lit". IgBOOl of, the 



ooops, «m 11 bnkan op to the pofe of the axe, may go to light 



tin- iitc. and tin- four bounaaved morning and evening mag 

 red i" antnn ng and preparing tin- slur!" to make dirt's 



nnd '(nit., and ihee *, or, whli li makea lea noise, in knitting 

 Ibl tin- whole family." {yiuir. Jviir. Af*r. vol. i. 

 .Uir in.u Ik- given to lotirii; pta*j |hj bowl in t\ bo p, ■'<:■! 



5165. In co mmo n with other grain, maize may 1"' fermented, w as to produce beer ; or distilled from, so 

 as to produce spirits ; the straw containing a good deal of saccharine matter that also might be ex- 

 tracted. 



"iltiti The preen ems of maize are applied to various purposes. In the neighbourhood of Paris, before 

 Hie in. ill- 1 >ii « — mii hai ei panded. the female is gathered and pickled, in the manner of cucumbers ; and this 

 i> pr ac ti s e d to some extent by the French ami Germans. When the grain has arrived at its milky state, 

 tho rar~ are then gathered fur Hie purpose ni boiling or roasting. In America tiny are roasted on or be- 

 fbre but embers, and eaten with <ult and butler. Boiled, they are not quite so delicate ; but are still verv 

 good, especiallj if boiled with fat pork. The ears are generally tit for these purposes during the month of 

 September, ami a large Held may afford soft ears for six weeks. 



5167. The men/ of maize, besides being given to the smaller poultry, is also used for fattening swine, old 

 sheep which hatre lost part of their teeth, ami for feeding oltl ho^es which cannot grind the ears whole 

 Of a tilier qualit] it is given to negroes, ami eaten by various persons in America, in the form of porridge, 

 paddings, and i ikes. In this country, the Kev. Henry Kerry of l'ens'iam Hnu-e, Won-e.-tershire, has 

 found maize meal, purchased from Liverpool, superior to oatmeal in maintaining the condition of his 

 bounds, [Country Thins, March 2iid, 18o().) The meal of maize, made into pa>te, and fried with fat 

 batini, is the ordinary food of the peasants of great part of the Brabant It serves them likewise for fatten- 

 ing their fowl, of which they feed great quantities for the markets of the rest of Brabant and of Holland. 

 {Cumin. Board of Agr.) 



5168. Diseases and enemies. The Phala;*na forficalis Lin is said to deposit its eggs in the stems of the 

 plant, and the larva? which these produce eat out its interior, so as to weaken the strength of the spikes. 

 There are also three species of smut, {/redo Pers., which are parasitic on the maize, and destroy the 

 grain by reducing it to a black powder. One species is peculiar to the rlower, attacks it before it arrives at 

 maturity, and finishes by leaving it in a state of black powder. The Trench writers recommend washing 

 and pickling in the same manner as for wheat. The stalks and leaves, being very sweet, are greedily 

 sought for by field rats, mice, and other enemies. In the granary, the maize, like other grains, is attackt il 

 by different species of weevil, this insect produces serious injury in America, but is not very likely to 

 be troublesome in this country. 



Subsect. 2. Canary Corn. — Vhalaris canariinsis L. ; Trh'indria Digi/nia L., and Gra- 

 minere J. Alphtc de Canaire, Fr. ; Kanariengras, Ger. ; Faluri, Ital. ; and Aljiistc, 

 Span, (fg.735.) 



5169. The Canary grass is an annual, with a culm from a foot to eighteen inches in 

 height, and lively green leaves almost half an inch in width. The seeds are thickly- 

 set in a subovate panicle or spike. It is a native of the Canary Islands ; but now 

 naturalised in several parts of England, and on the Continent. It flowers from June to 

 August, and ripens its seeds from September to October. It lias 

 long been cultivated in the Isle of Thanet, and a few other places 

 in Kent and Essex : it is there considered an uncertain crop, both 

 on account of the seasons, it being the latest of all the grasses in 

 ripening its seeds, and of the fluctuation of prices. 

 ^\$Af v/( 'y J ' J 5170. The culture of the Canary grass consists in pulverising a 



V'lWl^' loamy soil in good heart, or manuring it if worn out; though every 



judicious farmer tries to avoid giving manure to a corn crop utdess 

 after a naked fallow. The seeds are sown in rows at about a foot 

 apart, generally by the ribbing process : the season the month of 

 February, and the quantity of seed four or five gallons per acre. 

 The after-culture consists in repeated hoeings and wecdings. 



5171. 7'he reaping process seldom commences before the end of 

 September. The culm being leafy, and the seed difficult to separate 

 from the chalf, it requires to lie in handfuls for a week or more, and to 

 remain more than that time in the field after being tied up in sheaves. 

 In the Isle of Thanet it is cut with a hook, provincially called a 

 twibil and a kink; by which it is laid in lumps, or wads, of about a 

 sheaf each. The seed clings remarkably to the husk ; and, in order 

 to detach it, the crop is left a long time on the ground, to receive 

 moisture sufficient to loosen the enveloping chaff, otherwise it would 

 be hardly possible to thresh out the seetl. The wads are turned 

 from time to time, to have the ftdl benefit of the rains and sun. 



5172. The common produce of Canary grass is from thirty to 

 thirty-four bushels per acre ; but under the best management in the 

 Isle of Thanet it is often fifty bushels per acre. 



The use of the seed is chiefly as food for Canary and other cage and aviary birds. 

 The chalf is superior to that of every other eulmifcrous plant for horse-food, and the straw, 

 though short, is also very nutritive. 



Subsect. 3. The Millets- — Vanicttm and Sorghum L. ; Tridndria Di^'/nia and Poly- 

 ganiia Monre~cia L. and Graminree 3. Panis and Sorgho, Fr. ; Panick and Hirse, 

 Gcr. ; Panico and Sageno or Sorgo, Ital. ; and Alcandia, Span. 



5174. Of the millet there are three distinct genera : the Folish millet (Digitaria), culti- 

 vated in Poland ; the common millet (Panicum), or panic grass, cultivated in Germany, 



517:5. 



