300 CHAPTEB XVII 



Age. In South 2\frica it is known as Japanese Broom-Corn 

 or Buff el Gras Millet. The panicles may be loose, contracted 

 at the top and dense. The glumes may be red, black or white ; 

 in South Africa usually the last-named. In Russia and Asia 

 it is invariably grown as a cereal, elsewhere as hay, and often 

 for bird-seed. It is a lower hay-yielder than the Foxtail 

 Millets, and during wet weather is apt to lodge very badly. 

 It is fairly drought-resistant. 



Pearl Millet, N'Youti or Kaffir Millet. — This is probably 

 indigenous to South Africa, where, as in India, it is cultivated 

 by the natives as a cereal. It is a tall, erect, rapid-gi'owing 

 species, reaching a height of 6 to 10 feet in South Africa and 

 16 feet on rich soils in Florida. The stems are more slender 

 than those of the saccharine sorghums, the nodes shorter, and 

 the pith dry without sugar content. The head is cylindrical, 

 very dense, 4 to 14 inches long, bearing numerous pearly 

 exposed grains. It takes longer to reach maturity than most 

 grain sorghums, but is more or less adapted to the same 

 conditions as these. 



The stems are apt to becom.e hard and pithy ; consequently, 

 for hay it should be cut before flowering. Two to three heavy 

 cuttings are obtainable in suitable localities in the Union. 



It is usually planted in three-feet rows, requiring 3 to 5 

 pounds of seed per acre ; if broadcasted, about 20 to 30 pounds 

 are required. In South Carolina six cuttings have been 

 obtained in one season, giving an aggregate yield of 47 tons 

 of green matter per acre. 



At Tweespruit, 1906-7, seed sown on October 5th and 

 harvested February 28th yielded 5^ tons of hay per acre. 



It is very badly attacked by birds if allowed to go to seed. 



Large acreages of this millet are grown in the native 

 territories for seed, chiefly for the manufacture of kaffir beer. 



Diseases and Pests. — Generally speaking, the millets 

 are not subject to serious insect depredations. 



The Foxtail and Panicum Millets are both attacked by 

 smut, the former by Ustilago crarneri and the latter by 

 Ustilago panici-iniliucei, " both of which infest the individual 

 grains, converting the whole head or panicle into a large black 

 mass, enclosed by bracts in the Foxtail Millets and by a thin, 

 white membrane in the Panicum types." 



Seed treated with formalin, as recommended for wheat, 

 will control both smuts.. 



