146 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



A crop of fodder can be produced if sowed as late as the 

 last of July. 



Mr. N. Davenport, of Milton, Massachusetts, gives the fol- 

 lowing account of growing a crop of millet : 



' From the 10th to the 23d of June, I sowed about twelve 

 acres of millet, at about sixteen quarts per acre. About one- 

 third Avas on land planted the year before, and I think pro- 

 duced nearly three tons per acre ; the other two-thirds was 

 on green sward, ploughed and harrowed but a few days be- 

 fore being sown ; and on very light land, without any ma- 

 nure on either. I had not much over one ton per acre on 

 the green sward, the land being so light that it did not bear 

 more than two or three hundred of hay per acre. I mowed 

 my millet from the 1st to the 12th of September ; and I 

 found the tops of heads perfectly ripe and fit for seed. 



' I think millet well worth the attention of farmers in 

 general for horned cattle. I believe all horned cattle prefer 

 it to any other fodder. But I think hay for horses is better 

 than millet.' 



John Hare Powel, Esq., of Pennsylvania, has given us the 

 following observations on the culture of this crop. 



I have made many experiments on various soils, and at 

 different seasons, to ascertain the product as well as the pro- 

 perties of millet. Upon light land, in good condition, it suc- 

 ceeds best. It requires in all cases fine tilth, and as much 

 strength of soil as is necessary to produce heavy oats. I 

 have not seen, either in Europe or America, any green crop 

 which so largely rewards accurate tillage and plentiful sup- 

 plies of manure, as the species of millet usually grown in this 

 and the adjacent counties. I have sown it from the first of 

 May to the 20th of June, and have invariably obtained 

 more fodder than could have been had from any grass under 

 similar circumstances. In the autumn, eighty bushels of 

 caustic lime per acre were strewed upon an old sward, which 

 was immediately ploughed, closely harrowed, sown with rye, 

 and rolled. The rye was depastured in the winter and suc- 

 ceeding spring. Early in April the land was ploughed again ; 

 the lime and decomposed vegetable matter was thus returned 

 to the surface. About three weeks after, it was harrowed, to 

 destroy weeds ; early in May it was again harrowed for the 

 same purpose ; within a fortnight it was stirred with Beat- 

 son's scarifier to the depth of nine inches, harrowed, sown 

 with millet, and rolled. The crop was fairly estimated at 



