MILLETS. 187 



Oregon and Washington, between the mountains 

 and the sea. In all the other portions of the United 

 States the season of high summer temperatures is 

 sufficiently prolonged to force millet crops quickly 

 into maturity, unless it be upon the mountain up- 

 lands. The climate of all the central and southern 

 states is markedly favorable to the growth of millet. 



The highest adaptation of soil and climate 

 together are probably found in the Mississippi basin, 

 from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. Millet 

 is an indispensable adjunct to the hay crops grown 

 within this basin, and it is an indispensable factor in 

 growing soiling foods for stock. The less favorable 

 the conditions for the successful growth of hay 

 crops the more indispensable does the millet crop 

 seem to be. The climatic conditions in what are 

 usually spoken of as the southern states are equal!}'- 

 favorable, but not so of the soil conditions, hence 

 the growth of millet is not so common in these as it 

 would otherwise be. The crop has not been grown 

 to nearly the same extent in New England and the 

 adjacent states as in the Mississippi valley, because 

 of the stiffer soils, and in many instances because 

 of the more hungry soils of the former. The millet 

 crop can also be grown with a fair measure of suc- 

 cess in nearly all of the cultivated .parts of Canada. 

 The lowest adaptation is found in British Columbia 

 and in the Maritime Provinces beside the Atlantic, 

 and the highest adaptation in the prairie provinces 

 eastward from the Rocky mountains to Lake 

 Superior. 



Soil. — Millet in all its forms requires a rich 

 soil and a soil easily penetrated by the roots of the 



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