230 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Sorghum is cultivated largely in some parts of 

 China and in Cochin China. In England the 

 autumn i? rarely sufficiently dry and warm for 

 ripening its seeds, otherwise the plant might 

 prove useful in some poor and light soils, the pro- 

 duce of which is ordinarily insufficient to repay 

 the greater expense attendant upon the cultiva- 

 tion of other grain. Sorghum was raised in this 

 country as a rare plant, in the garden of John 

 Gerarde, as early as 169G. 



The golden-coloured miUet seeds seen in our 

 gi'ccers' shops are the produce of tlie sorghum 

 saccharatum, or yellow-seeded millet. Use is 

 made of these in a similar manner with rice, for 

 the preparation of puddings. 



This variety is likewise a native of India ; it 

 is cultivated largely in China and Cochin China ; 

 and has been introduced into the island of 

 Jamaica. Philip Miller reared it in his gai-den 

 in 1759. 



In warm climates millet is usually soi^m in 

 May and June, and perfects its seeds within four 

 months. The plant is not subject to blight, nor 

 is it easily injured by either drought or rain. 

 The only care required in its cultivation is to 

 allow sufficient space for the tillering of the 

 plants, and to weed and hoe the intervals during 

 the early part of the growth ; after which it will 

 overtop and smother all weeds. 



When millet is ripe, the panicles are cut off 

 near to the top of tlie stalk,' and collected in 

 sacks or baskets. They are then laid up in 

 heaps, and carefully covered during five or six 

 days ; after whicli they are spread on the barn 

 floor, and the grain is threshed out in the ordi- 

 nary manner with a flail. The more primitive 

 method of treading out the grain by means of 

 oxen is resorted to in some parts of India. 



If millet is not perfectly dry when deposited 

 in the granarj^, it will soon be spoiled ; but, on 

 the other hand, if this precaution be properly 

 taken, there is no grain that will keep longer or 

 better. The weevil will not touch it, and al- 

 though it is doubtless the better for being turned 

 over occasionally, that process, so indispensable 

 with other grain, may be omitted here without 

 producing any serious injury. In addition to 

 the use made of the stalks as fodder, the Nubi- 

 ans employ them in the construction of tempor- 

 ary huts. 



In the barren districts of Bornou, a species of 

 millet is produced, which is called by the inha- 

 bitants ^M^ra},-and upon which both men and 

 animals are almost exclusively fed. By the 

 poorer class it is frequently eaten, simply parched, 

 or even without any culinary preparation. Other 

 persons cmsh and then steep the seeds in water 

 previous to eating them, and some few, who are 

 the epicures of the land, clear the grain from the 

 husk, pound it, and make it up into a light paste 

 withmelted fat: this favourite dish is called iarftie/. 



The Nubians prepare a fermented liquor fi-om 

 dhourra which they call houzah. 



The Grasses. As the various kinds of corn 

 are of the utmost importance as the food of man, 

 so the grasses are no less essential to the main- 

 tenance of herbivorous animals. The grasses 

 form a numerous family, and grow abundantly 

 in our pastures and meadows. Several tmfs, 

 only six inches in diameter, and taken from va- 

 rious localities in England, were examined by 

 Mr Curtis, and found to contain from six to ten 

 distinct species of the grasses. Of British grasses 

 no less than twenty-five families, or distinct gen- 

 era, have been classified, and many of these fam- 

 ilies contain from twelve to eighteen species. 

 The different kinds of grasses are adapted to dif- 

 ferent localities ; some are found to flourish in 

 dry and arid soils, others in rich meadows, and 

 not a few in marshes and moist situations, and 

 thus we have hill and dale clothed with their 

 appropriate verdure. We shall here point out 

 a few of the most important of this family of 

 vegetables. 



Meadow Fox-tail Grass fahpxiirus praten- 

 sis). This grass is distinguished by the large- 



a Meadou' Fox-tail Grass. 6 Sweet-scented vernal Gragg. 



ness of its foliage, and by its producing a soft 

 spike on a long stalk early in May. The mea- 

 dow cat's-tail grass, or Timothy grass, produces 

 a spike somewhat similar ; but it is rougher to 

 the touch, and flowers much later in the summer. 

 It is a very productive grass, shoots very rapidly 

 after mowing, and yields a very plentiful after- 

 math. This grass grows naturally in a moist 

 soil, and hence it is well adapted to improve very 

 wet ground which has been so far drained of its 

 superfluous moisture. Its seeds are easily col- 

 lected ; but in certain seasons they are very apt 

 to be destroyed by a minute larva, or maggot, 

 of an orange colour, which feeds on the germ. 



