106 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



from drouth than the States farther east, so that millet 

 has come to be relied on there very largely. If a crop 

 of winter wheat is winter-killed, or even a spring- 

 planted crop, such as corn, fails because of unfavorable 

 weather after planting, the land may be sown to millet 

 after it is too late to plant other crops. Having 

 learned the peculiarities of the crop, farmers grow it in 

 that section very generally, even in years when it is 

 not needed as a catch crop. From Illinois eastward it 

 is more distinctly a catch crop, and is not very gener- 

 ally sown except in case of a shortage of other hay 

 crops. 



Millet probably has a larger field of usefulness in 

 the Eastern States than has heretofore been accorded 

 it. In most of these States it is customary to grow 

 only one crop a year on a given field. But it is pos- 

 sible to grow a winter crop of rye hay and a summer 

 crop of millet in most parts of the East, and both of 

 these crops make good hay if properly handled. On 

 farms where all the crops are fed, particularly on those 

 which grow only the roughage and buy their grain, 

 and therefore have an abundance of manure, and on 

 which, in consequence, the soil does not particularly 

 need the influence of leguminous crops, the above 

 double-cropping system on a portion of the land is en- 

 tirely rational. A few of the best farmers in the East 

 practice this method on some fields. How far cow- 

 peas will replace millet in this r61e cannot be stated. 

 They are coming into prominence for this purpose in 

 the North and East. In good seasons the cow-pea 

 yields fine crops of hay, but millet has the advantage 

 of being somewhat drouth-resistant. On farms not 



