294 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



most states the legal weight of common and German 

 millets is 50 pounds, and of Hungarian-grass 48 pounds 

 per bushel. The actual weight, however, varies from 40 

 to 55 pounds. One pound contains from 175,000 to 

 250,000 seeds. 



357. Diseases and insects. The only important 

 disease of foxtail millet is smut (Ustilago crameri) which 

 replaces the grain with a mass of black spores. The disease 

 is transmitted by smut spores on the seed, and can be pre- 

 vented by treating the seed with hot water in the same 

 manner as the bunt of wheat. 



The chinch-bug is very injurious to millets of which 

 it seems especially fond. On this account millet is 

 sometimes sown around or in strips through a field 

 of wheat to attract the bugs. The insects and their 

 eggs may then be destroyed by plowing under the 

 millet. 



358. Japanese barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumen- 

 tacea). This millet is known as sanwa millet in India 

 and in America has been called billion-dollar grass. 

 It is cultivated in Japan, India and other oriental 

 countries for human food. . It has probably originated 

 from the common barnyard millet (E. crus-galli) , now 

 a cosmopolitan weed in the tropics and in warm temper- 

 ate regions. The cultivated plant differs mainly in its 

 more nearly erect habit, more turgid seeds and in always 

 being awnless. 



Japanese millet is a coarser plant than any foxtail 

 millet, and on account of its thick stems does not cure 

 readily into hay. It has been recommended for silage, 

 but on the whole is probably best used for soiling. Reports 

 differ as to its palatability, probably due to the fact that 

 it is palatable when young and before heading, but much 



