272 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



Sugar. 



Millet flour. 



Wide distri- 

 bution of the 

 plant. 



The best 

 soil. 



Climate. 



Sowing the 

 seed. 



Distances. 



Weeding. 



and the leaves and young stems form excellent fodder for 

 animals, whilst the stalks, owing to the saccharine matters 

 they contain are sometimes used to manufacture sugar. In- 

 deed, one of the millets, Sorghum saccharatiim, is cultivated 

 extensively in the North Western States of America for 

 making sugar, molasses and syrup. The flour of the seeds 

 is very white and makes good bread, and the panicles, after 

 the removal of the seeds, become hard and rigid, and they 

 are used extensively in England and America for the manu- 

 facture of brooms and clothes brushes. 



The plant, and its allied species, are now cultivated exten- 

 sively in all the warmer regions of the earth, and various 

 names have been given to the grain in different countries. 

 Thus it is called in the United States broom corn; in India, 

 jowarriej and in South Africa, Kaffir corn. 



Soil and CLIMAXE.—The plant will grow and yield a 

 crop in nearly every soil, but the soil best suited to the culti- 

 vation is a rich light sandy loam, well drained and not too 

 moist. The climate should be a dry one ; and, in order to 

 obtain large crops, the lowest temperature should not fall 

 much below 60° Fahr. Guinea corn will stand drought re- 

 markably well, so that the hot and dry lowland regions of the 

 West Indies are peculiarly adapted to the growth of this 

 valuable cereal. 



Cultivation.— The land having been ploughed and har- 

 rowed so as to bring it to a good tilth, the seed is sown in 

 furrows, or drilled in by the means of one of the useful seed 

 drills now made by the manufacturers of agricultural im- 

 plements. The lines or furrows for the seed should be from 

 three and a half to four feet apart, and the plants should be 

 thinned out after they have sprouted, so that the seedlings 

 may not be less than twelve inches apart in the rows. As 

 soon as the corn is a few inches high the field must be 

 thoroughly weeded, and a second weeding may be necessary 

 later on, or a light plough or cultivator may be run between 



