SOILING CEOPS. 193 



will raise the heaviest crops ; but this quality of soil is dif- 

 ficult to pulverize sufficiently. A very great weight of 

 green food may be produced from millet. It will grow 

 four to five feet high, and, if thick on the ground, will 

 yield fifteen to eighteen tons per acre. In this green state 

 it has a nutritive ratio of one to seven, whilst timothy grass 

 is one to eight, which shows well for quality. If sown 

 broadcast, 32 to 40 quarts of seed may be used ; if planted 

 with a drill, 16 to 20 quarts, but it should be put in not 

 more than half to an inch deep. May be sown from first 

 of May to first of July. Should be cut before or in early 

 blossom. 



HUNGARIAN GRASS (Setaria Germanica) belongs to the 

 millet family, and its quality as a green food is nearly or 

 quite as good. It has a still finer seed. It does not grow 

 quite so tall, but grows a heavy crop on good land, which 

 requires to be of the same quality as for millet. 



Sixteen to twenty quarts of seeds give a good stand. It 

 should be cut for soiling (if only a single crop) before or 

 while blossoming, but two crops may be cut if the first is 

 taken before the head is formed. It grows again very 

 quickly, yet it is doubtful if two crops would be as profit- 

 able as one full crop. For seed Hungarian grass carries a 

 shorter, more erect, spike-like panicle, and yields less grain 

 than 



ITALIAN MILLET (Setaria ttalica), which grows four 

 feet high, and has an abundance of foliage, with a long 

 and numerously-branched panicle, yielding a large amount 

 of seed. This is said in Europe to produce three to five 

 times as much grain as wheat to the acre. Its head is of a 

 yellowish color, whilst the Hungarian is darker, the seeds 

 also darker. 



The millets grown in this country are considerably 

 mixed, almost all kinds being found in every field. The 

 Italian is often called Golden Millet." 

 9 



