ON THE MILLETS AND OTHER SMALL-GRAINED GRASSES. 419 



4. Black-seeded Millet. Panicle of a mixed, blackish-green colour, 

 very loose ; seeds almost black. 



The four varieties cultivated in Madras are called Varoogoo, Varoo- 

 goo Arisy, Samay, and Samay Arisy, in Tamil. Vellai Thanie is a 

 species grown in Tinnevelly. 



Millet Rice, Panicum miliare, Lam. ; P. colonum, Linn. — Nella 

 Shama, Telugu ; Shama, Tamul. 



Culms erect, ramous, two to three feet high, smooth ; flowers paired 

 on a common pedicel, with unequal partial pedicels. Corolla three- 

 valved, seed ovate, smooth, fine streaked. Panicle oblong, beautifully 

 bowing with the weigbt of the grain ; glumes of the calyces striated. 

 This is cultivated under the name of millet rice in the peninsula of 

 India. 



There are several kinds of Panicum cultivated in India, among 

 which the most celebrated are P. miliaceum, and P. frumentaceum, of 

 which there are some varieties. 



Panicum frumentaceum, Roxb. — Bonta-Shama, Telugu, called Sha- 

 moola in the Deccan. Culms erect, two to four feet high ; panicle erect, 

 spikes secund, incurved, flowers three fold, unequally pedicelled ; leaves 

 large, margins hispid. The seed is wholesome and nourishing. It yields 

 about forty fold in a dry rich soil. Cattle are very fond of this, the 

 P. spicatum and others. 



Bhadlee (P. pilosmn), also called Vursuom ; Pil arisy in Tamil. — 

 This seed is used in the Madras Presidency in time of famine. 



Setaria, or Close-seeded Millet, 

 From seta a bristle (in reference to the hairy involucre), is a genus 

 separated by Beauvois from that of Panicum, on account of its panicles 

 being contracted so as to resemble a spike ; its other characteristics are 

 the same, except in having a bristle-like appendage proceeding from 

 under the glumes, considerably longer than the spikelet, termed the 

 involucrum. 



1. Italian Millet (Setaria Italica, Beau v., Panicum Italicum, Linn., 

 Pennisetum Italicum, R. Br.), Tenney, Tamul; Tenna, Malabar; Kangoo 

 Kungnu, Beng. ; Kora, Hindustani ; Coraloo, Telugu ; Thadahaal, Singal ; 

 Culms erect, three to five feet high ; round, smooth ; leaves sheathing ; 

 spikes nodding ; seeds about half as long as those of the common millet, 

 not so small, and of a lighter colour, slightly tinged with green. 



This millet, called Raggy in Madras, is considered by the natives of 

 India one of the most delicious of cultivated grains. The Brahmins, 

 indeed all classes of natives, particularly esteem it, and use the seeds for 

 cakes, and porridge, &c. It is good for pastry, scarcely inferior, says 

 Ainslie, to wheat, and when boiled with milk, makes a pleasant light 

 diet for invalids. It is cultivated in many parts of India, requiring a 

 dry light soil. The seed time for the first crop is in June and July ; for 

 the second, between September and February. The Italians make a sort 



