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The World's Commercial Products 



THRESHING MAIZE COBS 



BARNYARD MILLETS 



Another important group 

 of millets are those belonging 

 to the genus Panicum, and 

 known in the United States 

 as the Barnyard Millets. 

 The plants vary considerably 

 in habit, but are typically 

 coarse-growing, with widely 

 spreading stems bearing 

 broad leaves and large irre- 

 gular " heads " of flowers 

 and seeds. 

 The true barnyard millet, Panicum crus-galli, occurs rarely as a wild plant in this country, 

 but is grown extensively in many parts of the world, chiefly in the Far East and India, in the 

 latter country being known as " Bharti," and used for forage and as a food-stuff by the poorer 

 natives. Other important Indian millets are "Shama" and " Sanwa " ; the former (Panicum 

 colonum) is a much smaller plant than P. crus-galli, but is one of the most valuable forage 

 crops of the East Indies, where it is also used for human food. The food value of the grain is 

 not considered by Professor Church to be very high, but in certain districts it is used fairly 

 extensively by labourers, and it is also said to be eaten on fast days by Hindoos, who, by 

 boiling the grain in milk, produce a preparation known as " Khir." The Indians of Mexico 

 and the south-western United States are also said to eat this millet. " Sanna " millet is a 

 coarse-growing plant with a large amount of herbage, and is the most rapid grower of all the 

 millets. Its nutritive value is not high, but in India it is either prepared as rice, or boiled with 

 milk, or eaten merely parched. In Japan this variety is largely cultivated in those districts 

 where, owing to the hilly nature of the country or to the absence of water for irrigation purposes, 

 it is impossible to grow rice. It is grown entirely as a human food, the grains being ground 

 and the meal eaten as a kind of porridge. 



COMMON MILLET 



The Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum) known in America as the Broom-corn Millet, is 

 generally regarded as the true millet. It has been cultivated in Europe from the most remote 

 times, and there is direct evidence that it was largely used by the Swiss Lake-dwellers. The 

 origin of this millet is very uncertain, and although it has been found growing spontaneously 

 in Southern Europe and in many 

 parts of Asia and Africa, there is 

 no authentic instance of its 

 having been found truly wild. 

 The botanist Linnaeus regarded 

 India as the home of the plant, 

 but De Candolle does not con- 

 sider the evidence as perfectly 

 satisfactory, and is inclined to 

 think that an " Egypto- Arabian 

 origin" is very probable." Com- 

 mon Millet is extensively grown 

 in the Mediterranean region, in 

 Russia, China, and Japan. It south Africa, mechanical sowing of maize 



