803 



of purposes, including supports for beans, cucumbers, j^ams, 

 iov thatching, in the building of light bridges and houses, maldng 

 of baskets, mats (I.e. p. 63) for fuel etc.; the blades [leaves], 

 two or three weeks before the plant matures are stripped off, tied 

 in bundles, cured in the sun for a few days and stacked indoors 

 for wdnter fodder, being relished by horses and donkeys 

 {I.e. p. 20). Great Millet (" Jowar ") is commonly cultivated 

 in India {see extent below) ; it is the most widely grown fodder 

 plant in the Bombay Presidency, where it is said to meet all 

 requirements (Burns, Agric. Journ, India, x. 1915, p. 288). 



The particulars as to uses might be given to cover many 

 other countries; but the above together with those under the 

 species enumerated may be sufficient to indicate how indispensable 

 Sorghum is in countries too diy for maize or rice, for instance 

 -and in the present search for motor fuel the cultivation of this 

 ^rain as a source of spirit as well as for food is capable of 

 ■considerable extension. 



It is difficult if not almost impossible to estimate the full 

 ,^xtent of the Sorghum crop in various parts of the world; but 

 that of India and Burma is put at (in 1908 approx.) 24,000,000 

 ^cres, which at a low average of 6 maunds (500 lb.) per acre, 

 would be an annual production of 5,000,000 tons of grain (Watt, 

 -Comm. Prod. India, p. 1033) that of the United States at 

 3,000,000 acres (Montgomery seq, p. 281) and that of Africa is 

 from lack of detailed figures impossible to calculate, but it 

 might easilj^ equal the returns for any one of the countries 

 mentioned, already quoted. 



The cultivation is approximately the same for all annual 

 varieties and similar to that of " Maize '* or '' Corn " (Zea Mays). 

 The climatic conditions in general may be regarded as much the 

 :same as those required for "Cotton" (Gossypium spp.); the 

 seed may be sown broadcast or in rows about 3 ft. or so apart 

 in ground previously well prepared. In N. China the seeds are 

 soaked in water overnight and sown in rows in hills 2-3 ft. apart, 

 the plants on each hill thinned out to one, when about a foot 

 or so high (Meyer, in Ball, U.S. Dept, Agric. Bur. PI. Ind. Bull. 

 No. 253, 1913, p. 11); it is estimated here that 8 lb. of seed will 

 sow an acre of ground and that the yield in grain will be half 

 ^ ton if the crop is good, with 1^1^ tons of 2000 ]b. of stalks 

 per acre (Sammons in Ball, I.e.). 



The yield of grain per acre of Guinea Corn (" Kaura,'' sown 

 June 4th) and Millet (" Gero " — Pennisetum typJioidetim sown 

 May 27th) interplanted was 736 lb. of '' Kaura " and 560 lb. of 

 "" Gero," on a plot of 6 acres ; and of *' Guinea Corn " (" Fara-fara," 

 sown June 6th) with Millet (" Maiwa '' — sown June 6th) and 

 IMillet (" Gero " — sown May 27th) interplanted, the yield per 

 ^cre of each was 520 lb. of " Fara-fara," 753 lb. of '' Maiwa " 

 :and 560 lb. of '' Gero " on a plot of 4 acres, at Ilorin ; the expenses 

 for each plot were £1 195. 7d. per acre (Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric. 

 N. Nigeria, 1914, App. iii. Table C; p. 20). 



