( 104) 



an enormous yield of hay, but, from the succulent character of the 

 stalks, it is difficult to cure, unless a good "spell" can be caught. 

 However, if the farmer has a drove of mules or steers to fatten, he 

 can cut a load or two at a time, throwing it into a rack, which can 

 be replenished as required, and the hay will remain green on the 

 ground until frost, so that there is no danger of its being lost by 

 becoming too ripe. 



In Germany the seeds are deprived of the chaff and used as rice, 

 and sells for the same price. In Asia and Africa it is made into a 

 meal and eaten either in gruel, cakes or bread. It can be sown at 

 any time from the first of April (a light frost not injuring it) until 

 the first of July. 



If fed on the ground the stalks will remain in the way of the 

 planter for a year at least, but if plowed under in the fall like 

 broom corn, they will rot by spring, and if lime is sown on them 

 before plowing under, it will greatly expedite the process, and the 

 soil will improve every year. 



Taking into consideration, the fact that it will yield more seed, 

 fodder and stalks on a greater variety of soils, with less labor, in 

 any kind of season, and return more litter to the land than any 

 other cereal, and being a good food for man and beast, it may be 

 justly considered one of the most valuable of the cereals. And with 

 these facts it is most surprising that it is raised to the small extent 

 it is. 



About twenty-five or thirty years ago it could be seen on the 

 plantation of almost every farmer in the Stats. It gave very gen- 

 eral satisfaction, and yet it went out as suddenly as it came into 

 popularity. This was due to the cry that it impoverished the land. 

 This verdict was accepted without question, and its culture aban- 

 doned ; but it is manifest, from subsequent experiments, that it 

 detracts as little from the fertility of the soil as any other cereal 

 much less than some. 



If the stalks are left and only the grain and fodder removed, 

 and the farmer fed on the field and plowed in as before stated, the 

 soil will not be greatly injured. It will not kill cattle like clover, 

 and no care is necessary but to salt and water them. One would 

 be surprised how quickly cattle will fatten on the bare stalks, and 

 besides they will leave the ground covered ankle deep with ma- 

 nured stalks. 



