XIV GUINEA CORN 273 



the rows so as to turn up the soil and destroy the weeds. 

 Very soon the plants will cover the land by their luxuriant 

 foliage which grows with great rapidity. 



Crops.— The best season for sowing is June, and crops 

 may be reaped in four or five months afterwards ; although, 

 when grown under favourable conditions, returns have been 

 got in three months. When the corn has arrived at matu- Harvesting, 

 rity, it is harvested by cutting off the ears near to the top of 

 the stem, and then carrying them in baskets to the house 

 or shed. The ears are kept in heaps for a few days, and Threshing. 

 afterwards they are spread on the floor of the building, and 

 the grain is threshed out by means of a flail. In some parts 

 of the East, millet, like rice, is threshed by bullocks being 

 made to tread on it, and this process dates far back into 

 primitive times. Indeed, in some Eastern countries, agri- ^fgJ^J^s'^fn 

 cultural systems and manufacturing processes have been the East. 

 handed down unchanged from remote ages to modern times ; 

 descriptions by ancient writers of the every-day life of the 

 people, being in some instances faithful delineations of what 

 is seen at the present time. 



The crops of Guinea corn got from an acre of land vary Returns, 

 considerably, fifty bushels, however, may be considered as a 

 good average return. But double that quantity is mentioned 

 by Porter as being a not unusual crop from good soil. 



