(126) 



as rice, and sells for the same price. In Asia and Africa it 

 is made into a meal and eaten either in gruel, cakes or bread. 

 It can be sown at any time from the first of April (a light 

 frost not injuring it) until the first of July. 



If fed on the ground the stalks will remain in the way of 

 the planter for a year at least, but if plowed under in the 

 fall like broom corn, they will rot by spring, and if lime is 

 sown on them before plowing under, it will greatly expe- 

 dite the process, and the soil will improve every year. 



Taking into consideration the fact thaf it will yield more 

 seed, fodder and stalks on a greater variety of soils, with 

 less labor, in any kind of season, and return more litter to 

 the land than any other cereal, and being a good food for 

 man and beast, it may be justly considered one of the most 

 valuable of the cereals. And with these facts it is most sur- 

 prising that it is raised to the small extent it is. 



About twenty-five or thirty years ago it could be seen on 

 the plantation of almost every farmer in the State. It gave 

 very general satisfaction, and yet it went out as suddenly as 

 it came into popularity. This was due to the cry that it im- 

 poverished the land. This verdict was accepted without 

 question, and its culture abandoned ; but it is manifest, from 

 subsequent experiments, that it detracts as little from the 

 fertility of the soil as any other cereal — much less than 

 some. 



If the stalks are left and only the grain and fodder re- 

 moved, and the former fed on the field and plowed in as be- 

 fore stated, the soil will not be greatly injured. It will not 

 kill cattle like clover, and no care is necessary but to salt 

 and water thiem. One would be surprised how quickly cat- 

 tle will fatten on the bare stalks, and besides they will leave 

 the ground covered ankle deep with manured stalks. 



With all these facts before us, and our own experience in 

 its cultivation, we most heartily commend its use to the citi- 

 zens of Tennessee. There is no character of soil, from the 

 rich alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi to the sterile moun- 



