BARNYARD AND PEARL MILLETS 



345 



OTHER MILLETS 



438. Broomcorn Millet. This class of millet is usually 

 grown for the grain rather than for forage, since the stems 

 are stiff and hairy and the hay is not eaten readily by stock. 

 They have already been discussed (Sec. 336). 



439. Barnyard Millet. Barnyard millet, Echinochloa 

 crus-galli, is the common barnyard grass, which is occasion- 

 ally sown for forage. It is a weed 



everywhere in damp, rich soils. 

 A variety of it from Japan has 

 been widely advertised by seeds- 

 men as a very prolific forage crop, 

 under the name of " billion dollar 

 grass." It grows best on wet 

 lands, and on rich soil makes a 

 heavy growth of hay or green 

 fodder. The stems are rather 

 coarse and the crop is slower in 

 maturing than the foxtail millets, 

 which are generally to be pre- 

 ferred to it. 



440. Pearl Millet. Pearl or 

 cat-tail millet, Pennisetum spica- 

 tum, is a coarse annual grass 

 which is grown mostly as a soiling- 

 crop in a very limited way on rich land in the South. 

 It grows from 6 to 10 feet high, producing a long, compact 

 spike similar in appearance to the common cat-tail of the 

 swamps, hence one of the common names. It suckers freely, 

 and will produce two or three crops in a season if cut for soil- 

 ing before it produces heads. The young growth is readily 

 eaten by stock, but it soon becomes woody and is of little 



Fig. 108. Barnyard grass, or 

 cocksfoot. 



