342 FIELD CROPS 



base, which are usually purplish in color. The grain, which 

 thrashes free from the scales or chaff, is usually yellow or 

 purple. 



434. Importance. The millets are quick-growing plants 

 which are grown more generally as a catch crop than for any 

 other purpose. They do not grow well until the hot weather 

 of summer, but if planted in June or July they will make a 

 hay crop in six or eight weeks. They are usually sown where 

 some earlier-planted crop has failed, as where fall-sown grain 

 has winter-killed, or where corn has not germinated or has 

 been destroyed by insects or rodents. As they are decidedly 

 drouth-resistant, they grow well in dry seasons or in regions 

 of slight rainfall. The area sown to millet in the United 

 States, according to the 1910 Census, was 1,113,000 acres. 



435. Culture. Millet should not be sown till the weather 

 is warm, not -earlier than the middle of June in the Northern 

 states, and in May and June in the South. Millet grows well 

 on a variety of soils, but succeeds better on sandy loam than 

 on heavy clays. As the seed is small, the ground should be 

 well prepared. The plant has abundant feeding roots and 

 will grow fairly well on poor soil. Like other forage crops, 

 however, it makes a much more abundant growth on fertile 

 land and responds readily to applications of manures and 

 fertilizers. The seed is usually sown broadcast and har- 

 rowed in, though it may be sown with the grain drill. The 

 rate of seeding for grain production is from 1 to \Y^ pecks to 

 the acre; for hay, from 2 to 4 pecks are sown. The seed 

 weighs 50 pounds to the bushel. 



The crop is ready to cut for hay in from six to ten weeks 

 from seeding, depending on the variety, the season, and the 

 fertility of the soil. The best hay can be obtained if the crop 



