THE MILLETS 109 



circumstances. Like most other crops, the length of 

 time required to mature a crop of millet depends on 

 the season. Since it is grown largely as a catch crop, 

 it is sometimes necessary to cut it early to get the hay 

 out of the way for another crop. It undoubtedly makes 

 good hay when cut even before it begins to head, if 

 properly cured, but the yield is larger and the quality 

 just as good if cut in bloom. The quality of the hay 

 deteriorates after the seed begins to form, and it is un- 

 wise to allow it to reach this stage unless a crop of seed 

 is desired. In that case the seed should be allowed to 

 get fully ripe. Hay from ripe millet is undesirable for 

 two reasons: it is not so palatable nor so digestible as 

 when cut earlier, and the hardened bristles become a 

 source of annoyance and even danger to stock. Yet 

 stock will eat millet straw from which the ripe seed 

 has been threshed, and some farmers consider this straw 

 very good feed. 



Millet is well adapted for use as a green feed, 

 and it is .so used to some extent in the East, where the 

 soiling system is coming to be generally practiced 

 on dairy-farms. It is strong feed, and should be used 

 with care, particularly when fed in the green state to 

 horses. It is also suitable for use as temporary pas- 

 ture. If hurdles are used, and care is taken not to 

 graze too closely, it may be grazed over three or four 

 times in a season. 



The amount of millet seed required to sow an acre 

 is about two pecks when sown for hay, and one peck 

 when sown for seed. In some sections millet is sown in 

 rows and cultivated, when grown for the seed. When 

 thus sown a bushel of seed is sufficient for six or eight 



