PANICUM. 113 



very heavy and immensely productive. Panicum milia- 

 ceum is the Millet-seed, the well-known native of the 

 East Indies. It is a historical plant, cultivated from 

 time immemorial in the South of Europe for its seed, so 

 much valued for culinary purposes. Pliny gives the pre- 

 ference to the seed of the Italian Panicum, as weighing 

 more and being more nutritious, but he acknowledges 

 that those of the Millet Panicum are more generally 

 used for making bread. Of this plant and its allies, 

 Professor Lindley says : — " All these produce small 

 grains far inferior to those of the cereal grasses, and 

 chiefly useful as food for poultry, or for making the 

 Italian dish called polenta. They are unable to bear 

 fruit and will not ripen in this country with much cer- 

 tainty. Where they are cultivated, as in Germany, 

 Hungary, France, and Italy, they are sown broadcast 

 after all danger of spring frost is over." Little birds 

 devour the seeds of either with great eagerness, and we 

 cannot dissociate the dense head of the Italian Millet 

 from that of a costly piping bullfinch, the idol of a doating 

 mistress, which found its death in overcramming with the 

 Millet seed. The little gourmand ate until his crop was 

 so large that his head was forced back by it, and shortly 

 afterwards he took a lit and expired. The beauty of the 

 Millet- grass quite equals its utility. Its large, light, 

 drooping panicle, the crowd of pale green spikelets trem- 

 bling on their slender footstalks, the broad undulated 

 leaves, the highest waving as a pennon over the expanded 

 panicle, and the tall growth of the plant, recommend it 

 highly to the landscape gardener ; and if he continued in 

 doubt regarding its appropriateness for ornamental cul- 

 ture, he would only need to wait till the delicate florets 

 opened their valves, when the tassels of scarlet anthers, 



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