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and is cultivated extensively in Asia, Africa, West Indies, 

 Brazil, and in the southern part of the United States. It 

 will grow to perfection from Pennsylvania to Florida. There 

 are two varieties usually cultivated, the " white" and the 

 " red," both good, but the red produces a great many more 

 seeds some say as many as four times the quantity of the 

 other. The red matures earlier, too ; the white, being in 

 higher latitudes, is often caught by frosts. The latter, how- 

 ever, is preferable when intended for food. A failure of 

 this crop in Arabia and Africa, would be as great a calami- 

 ty as that of corn in the United States. The meal is white 

 and makes delicious breakfast cakes, and is said to be much 

 better than corn meal. 



Its yield varies according to the soil on which it is sown. 

 On rich sandy loam or alluvial bottoms, it will make from 

 100 to 150 bushels per acre, but unlike the other cereals, 

 except buckwheat, it will grow well on soil however poor. 

 On rocky clayey land, that will scarcely sprout foxtail, I 

 have seen the most luxuriant crops. It will continue to 

 grow until frost, and after the first head matures it throws 

 out succors from other joints, and makes smaller heads. 

 This is expedited by going over it and culling out as fast as 

 it ripens. Stock of all kinds are fond of it, and will 

 greedily eat it. It is almost equal to Indian corn for fatten- 

 ing food for hogs. 



The ground is plowed as well as possible, and then 

 thrown into low ridges, or even better, no ridges at all ; the 

 seeds are then drilled three feet a part, with a seed drill. 

 If sown by hand, the rows are made with a bull-tongue 

 plow and covered with a harrow. A peck of seeds is enough 

 for an acre, unless they are weevil eaten, when more should 

 be used. They should be covered very lightly, not more 

 than an inch and a half deep. When they come up they 

 should be thinned out by chopping across the row, leaving 

 the plants eighteen inches apart, then one or two good 

 plowings are all the crop requires. There need be no fear 



