34 HATCH EXPEKIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



Preliminary Statement. 

 During the last ten years the attention of farmers has been 

 frequently called to the value of several varieties of Japanese 

 millets.* Experiments have demonstrated the Panicum 

 crus-galli — now termed barnyard millet — to be the most 

 useful Japanese variety for fodder purposes ; and this de- 

 partment has endeavored to ascertain, by experiment and 

 observation, its relative value, as compared with other mate- 

 rials of similar character, as a food for dairy animals. The 

 term barnyard millet has been adopted as its common name, 

 for the reason that it appears to be a cultivated and improved 

 variety of the common barnyard grass. The information 

 given below is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise on the 

 subject, but rather a bringing together of data already at 

 hand concerning the nutritive value and practical utility of 

 the plant. 



(a) Character of the Millet. 



This variety of millet is a coarse-growing form, with a 

 comparatively heavy leafage and compact beardless heads. 

 When headed out it stands from four to six feet in height, 

 and rarely lodges. It is a warm-weather plant, similar to 

 corn, and makes a very rapid growth when the temperature 

 is high. Sown the middle of May, it begins to head about 

 August 1, the time varying a little, depending on weather 

 conditions. After the heads appear it becomes woody, and 

 proportionately less valuable for fodder purposes. It will 

 not endure dry weather as well as corn, and succeeds best 

 upon moist land in a good state of fertility. If cut when it 

 begins to bloom, a second crop may be frequently secured, 

 but it is apt to be small in quantity and coarse in quality. 



(b) Composition of Green Millet. 

 Numerous analyses of this material have been made, the 

 more recent ones by this department being tabulated as 

 follows : — 



* See, in the different reports of the Massachusetts Agricultural College and 

 Hatch Experiment Station, the articles by Prof. W. P. Brooks, to whom we are in- 

 debted for the introduction of these fodder plants. See also Farmers' Bulletin, 101, 

 published by the United States Department of Agriculture, on millets. 



