837 



Central ' Chari region, Rhodesia, Natal, Somaliland, and in 

 general widely distributed in Tropical and S. Africa. 



A good hay or pasture grass, Rhodesia (Appleton, I.e.), a 

 useful native hay grass (Transv. Agric. Journ. I.e.); not relished 

 by cattle when green, but when ripe they Hke it and prefer it 

 to ordinary veldt; makes a good weighty hay (Wood, I.e.). 



A perennial, 5 ft. high, Aboh (Barter, I.e.), one of the 

 commonest grasses of the African Savannahs (Stapf, Kew Bull. 

 1907, p. 214); on the African Plains, Gold Coast (Johnson, 

 No. 725, Herb. Kew). 



Setaria italica, Beauv. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. IX. ined. 



Ill— Year Book, U.S. Dept. Agric. 1880, p. 384, t. 3 ; t. 27, 

 f. 3 (dissections); Vasey, Agric. Grasses (Ed. 1) t. 16; Church, 

 Food Grains, India, p. 55; Duthie, Field Crops, t. 25; Lisboa, 

 Bombay Grasses, p. 32; Hitchcock, Grasses, p. 185, £E. 24, 25 

 {CJiaetochloa italica) ; Piper, Forage Plants, p. 287, f . 29 ; 

 Barber, Inter. Sugar, Journ. Dec. 1920, p. 684. 



Vernac. names,- — Foxtail IVIillet, Italian IVIillet, Boer Manna, 

 Hungarian Grass (this name according to Hitchcock, Grasses, 

 p. 184, being given to the form with small purple heads). 



There are specimens in the herbarium from the Zambesi and 

 British East Africa (Kenya Colony) ; but none from Nigeria. 

 It is, however, so widely distributed in Tropical and Sub -Tropical 

 countries, that it is here regarded as worthy of mention. 



In India and many other warm countries the grain is largely 

 used for food and also in India for cage-birds and poultry. In 

 Europe and America the plant is of greater intportance as forage, 

 especially for cattle; but ''Foxtail MUet " has long been 

 regarded as unsatisfactory for horses unless fed sparingly (Piper, 

 Forage PL p. 293) and this injurious effect upon horses is 

 attributed to the seed if the hay is cut too late (Lyon & Hitchcock, 

 U.S. Dept. Agric. Bull. No. 59, 1904, " Forage Crops in Nebraska," 

 p. 46). '' Boer Manna " is the staple hay crop in the Transvaal 

 (Kew Bull. 1919, p. 20); but may be ousted by ^^ Te£E" (^eep.SSl). 



An annual, 2-4 ft. high, propagated by seed of which half 

 a bushel "will sow an acre ; it can be cut for hay in about 2 months 

 from the time of sowing, recommended to be cut between the 

 time of heading out and that of late bloom (Lyon & Hitchcock, 

 Lc). In Madras, the seed rate is given as 5-6 lb. per acre if 

 irrigated, or half that quantity if on dry land; here the yield 

 as a dry -land crop reaches 600 lb. of grain per acre and if 

 irrigated 1000 lb. of grain, with 1000-2000 lb. of straw (Barber, 

 Inter. Sugar Journ. Dec. 1920, p. 685). In some trials with 

 " Boer Manna " in Rhodesia, as a fodder plant, the yield of hay 

 has been 2400 lb, per acre (Walters, Rhodesia Agric. Joum. 



Oct. 1920, p. 433). 



Eef, — '' Millets of the Genus Setaria " in the Bombay 

 Presidency and Sind, Gammie, Memoirs Dept, Agric. India, 



Bot. Ser. iv. Jan. 1911, pp. 1-8. " Foxtail Millets or Mannas," 



Walters, in Agric. Joum. Union of S. Africa, ii, Aug. 1911, 



