MILLET-GRASS. 



MILLS. 



and brooms of its stalks in Italy, which Ray 

 observed in the shops of Venice, and which are 

 sent to England. Of this species there are 

 two distinct, varieties ; one distinguished by 

 black, and the other by red, husked seeds, be- 

 sides subvarieties. 



The only sorts of millet which are cultivated 

 with success in England are the German, cul- 

 tivated, and the Polish sorts. According to 

 Professor Thaer, the cultivated is to be pre- 

 ferred, as having the largest grain. 



The soil for the millet should be warm, 

 sandy, rich, and well pulverized to a good 

 depth. In England the seed is sown in May, 

 very thin, and not deeply covered. In the 

 course of its growth, no plant, Professor Thaer 

 observes, is more improved by stirring the soil, 

 after which it grows astonishingly fast, and 

 smothers all weeds. 



In harvesting the millet, great care is requi- 

 site not to shed the seed ; and as it ripens rather 

 unequally, it would be an advantage to cut off 

 the spikes as they ripen. No grain is easier 

 to thrash, or to free from its husk by the mill. 

 It is used instead of rice, and in Germany 

 bears about the same price. It produces a 

 great bulk of straw, which is much esteemed 

 as fodder. (London's Ency. of Agriculture.) 



The great Indian millet will grow in Eng- 

 land to the height of 5 or 6 feet; but will not 

 ripen its seeds, or even flower, if the season 

 is not dry and warm. It would doubtless suc- 

 ceed in the United States. 



MILLET-GRASS, Milica (Fr. millet ; Lat. mi- 

 linm, from mille, a thousand, in allusion to the 

 immense number of seeds produced by it). 

 These are hardy, annual, and perennial grasses; 

 but in England the climate is seldom warm 

 enough to ripen the seed, or to allow of their 

 being cultivated to advantage. The haiJened 

 corolla, forming a coat to the seed, affords a 

 mark of distinction between this genus and 

 Jlgrostis, no less obvious than important, as 

 those most deeply versed in grasses will most 

 readily allow. 



There are two English species: 



1. Spreading millet-grass (M.effnsitm). Grow- 

 ing very common in moist, shady places. The 

 root is perennial and fibrous, with several 

 creeping shoots. Stems erect, slender, gene- 

 rally 3 and 4 feet high, with about 4 joints, 

 leafy, smooth. Leaves bright-green, flat, very 

 smooth, thin and weak. Flowers solitary, 

 slightly drooping, ovate, in a loose spreading 

 panicle, without awns; panicles from 4 inches 

 to a foot in length. Mr. Curtis observes, that 

 this is distinguished from the panic grasses, to 

 which it has the greatest affinity, by having a 

 calyx of two valves only. The produce of this 

 grass is very lip:ht in proportion to its bulk, 

 and it is but little nutritive. Birds are remark- 

 ably fond of the seeds: so much as to render 

 it likely that, for the sake of the seed only, it 

 could be cultivated to advantage on the farm. 

 But in covers where game are preserved there 

 cannot be a better grass encouraged: it will 

 save the corn fields. About the beginning of 

 August is the best season for sowing the seed. 

 The surface of the ground near the roots of the 

 bushes should be lightly stirred, and the seeds 

 scattered over it and raked in ; a few of the 



decaying leaves that cover the ground should 

 afterwards be throwu over. It flowers in the 

 second week or latter end of June, and the 

 seed is ripe in the middle of July and begin- 

 ning of August. 



2. Panic millet-grass (A/, lanigcrum'). This 

 annual species is less common, and grows 

 principally in fields where water has stag- 

 nated, especially towards the sea. The stem 

 is branched from the bottom and smooth. 

 Flowers in a dense, spiked, erect panicle, pale- 

 green, bristly; corolla awned. 



MILLS (Lat. wo/). The term mill seems 

 to have signified originally an engine for grind- 

 ing corn, but it is now used in a general sense 

 j to denote a great variety of machines, whose 

 action depends chkfly on circular motion. The 

 particular purpose is usually indicated by a 

 prefix: thus, bark-mill, cotton-mill, flour-mill, 

 oil-mill, saw-mill, spinning-mill, &c. 



The machinery by which it is necessary to 

 accomplish the ultimate objects of the mill 

 in'i^t obviously vary almost indefinitely. Many 

 voluminous works on this subject have been 

 published, as well as separate accounts of par- 

 ticular structures. 



The Kibbling-mill is well worthy of notice. 

 It is composed of a small iron cylinder, usually 

 about 8 or 9 inches wide, and 6 inches in dia- 

 meter, tapering slightly to one end, and fluted 

 on the inside. Within this a barrel of the 

 same form, but a size less, and fluted on the 

 outside, revolves by the turning of a spindle 

 on which it is fixed. The meal is rendered 

 finer or coarser in proportion as the working 

 barrel is set nearer to or farther from the 

 small end. This mill is made entirely of iron, 

 and steel, and is usually attached to a post. It 

 is provided with a hopper, and is worked by a 

 crank fixed at one end of the spindle, while a 

 fly-wheel revolves at the other. It is used for 

 beans, peas, and other pulse, for malt and va- 

 rious kinds of grain, and is a very useful and 

 ingenious contrivance, but requires care in its 

 adjustment and general management. 



Rein-mill. A mill for grinding beans, con- 

 structed by Seaman and Bryant of Melton, in 

 Suffolk, is as simple and effective an imple- 

 ment of the kind as any we have seen. It is 

 placed on a wooden stand, with crank, fly- 

 wheel, and hopper; and consists of a coarsely 

 fluted barrel, working against a front cutting 

 plate ; the latter being set at the proper distance 

 from the barrel by means of a screw. It is 

 used chiefly for beans and peas, but may 

 be employed for grinding malt, by exchang- 

 ing the barrel and cutting-plate for a pair of 

 rollers. 



The Norfolk Crusher is similar in appear- 

 ance to the foregoing, and is worked by two 

 rollers of equal dimensions, each being flanged 

 at one end, and reversed so as to prevent the 

 grain from falling off at the side. The rollers 

 are perfectly smooth, and consequently, as its 

 I name implies, it crushes the grain instead of 

 cutting it. 



The Suffolk Crusher is simply a variety of the 

 above, and differs from it in having its hind 

 roller finely grooved, and of half the dimen- 

 sions of the front one ; this has no flange, but 

 works within the flanges of the front roller 



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