74 FORAGE CROPS 



The millets belong to a group of crops that grow 

 quickly, and are what may be termed "hot weather 

 plants." They do not thrive in cool weather. They 

 are useful as hay catch -crops, or as regular forage 

 crops for substituting pastures, or for soiling. All 

 the kinds of millet that have been tested possess 

 valuable characteristics, although the recently 

 introduced Japanese or Barnyard varieties are 

 proving more useful for green- forage purposes 

 than the older and better known kinds, largely 

 because of more rapid growth and larger yields. 



All the millets are native to the Old World, but 

 the cultivated forms are cosmopolitan. In some 

 countries, some of the millets are grown for the 

 grain for human food. 



BARNYARD MILLET (Figs. 4, 5, 6) 



Of the oriental forms, the Barnyard millet has 

 given the best satisfaction in the East as green 

 forage. It grows very rapidly, and frequently 

 i-eaches a height of four to six feet. When cut at 

 the right time, it is a most excellent soiling crop, as 

 it is succulent and palatable. Maximum crops can 

 be secured only when there is present an abundance 

 of all of the fertility elements in available forms. 

 A crop of ten tons per acre of this forage removes 

 large quantities of plant- food elements, practically 

 all of which are absorbed from the immediate sur-. 



