MISSOURI MILLET. 105 



through the whole winter, and at the prices it has been sell- 

 ing for, for two years, nothing is cheaper. 



To sow for hay prepare the ground in a thorough man- 

 ner, pulverizing it completely, and when the ground is in a 

 sufficiently moist condition, in June, sow the seed, a bushel 

 to the acre. Never sow if the ground i^too dry or too wet. 

 If too dry, the seed near the surface will parch in the rays 

 of the sun, and a stand will fail to appear. If too wet the 

 usual injury to the land occurs and the crop " frenches " or 

 turns yellow and dwarfs. After sowing, harrow well and 

 the labor is over. The millet will require seventy or 

 eighty days to mature, unless it is sown in July, when it 

 will require a few days longer. 



Two crops of Hungarian grass can easily be raised from 

 the same ground annually. A farmer of Davidson county 

 raised a most excellent crop of Hungarian grass, sown the 

 1st day of September and cut on the 10th of October. 

 Another, of Williamson county, secured a good crop of 

 German millet sown on the 13th day of August, and cut 

 on the 12th day of October. So, if a farmer, by any kind 

 of misfortune, fails in the earlier months to secure a suffi- 

 cient quantity of forage for his stock, he can, as a dernier 

 resort, start very late in supplying himself, by crops of 

 millet. Should it be desired to use the hay as a green 

 forage, it can be cut three times at least, provided it is done 

 before it begins to throw up the seed stalks. It is a com- 

 mon custom in the Southern States to use it in this manner 

 instead of buying the expensive baled hay of the North. 



For seed, prepare the ground as above described, and then, 

 with a light bull-tongue or skooter plow, run light parallel 

 rows thirty inches apart, and with a tin cup or old oyster 

 can that has three or four holes punched in the bottom 

 with a 4-penny nail, walk rapidly along the furrow, and 

 the seed will sift into it from the cup about right for a 

 stand. Cover very lightly with a cotton coverer, and then, 

 just when the seeds begin to sprout, but before they show 



