252 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



S. Cereale. L. Has its specific name from Ceres, the fabled 

 goddess of agriculture. Next to wheat, it is the most important 

 grain for this latitude, as it yields the next best flour in any consider- 

 able quantity ; it likes a colder climate, and is still more important 

 at the North. It delights in a soil more siliceous, and is better 

 adapted than wheat to much of the soil of this Commonwealth. 

 It contains more gluten and less fecula or starch than wheat. 

 Gluten, as paste, is an article of importance in some arts. Rye 

 is not much cultivated in England, as the soil is better adapted to 

 wheat ; in New England it is a grain of great value. The two 

 varieties, summer and winter rye, are supposed to belong to one 

 species. 



The heads of rye sometimes become diseased, and ergot, 

 large, long, black grains are produced instead of the seed. Some 

 have considered ergot a mere disease ; others have called it a 

 fungus. De Candolle named it Sclerotium clavus (Acinulac, 

 Fries). At any rate, it is a poisonous substance, and exerts a 

 pernicious influence on breeding animals, and especially upon 

 sheep. The ewes should not be suffered to eat this refuse part 

 of rye for some time before bearing their young, if, indeed, at 

 all, as many lambs are thus lost. 



Sorghum. L. 19. 1. 



$. saccharatum. L. Broom Corn. The value of this article, 

 and the extent of its cultivation, are well known ; said to have 

 come from India ; too rough, and large, and hard, for food of 

 cattle. For the manufacture of brooms it is a grass of the first 

 necessity, and in some parts of the State an article of very 

 profitable cultivation. 



S. vulgar e. L. Coffee Corn. Grand Millet. Sometimes culti- 

 vated in gardens as a curiosity, or for feeding hens, &c. ; not con- 

 sidered of great value, probably because we have other grasses of 

 more value for the same object. In Arabia and Asia Minor, it is 

 much cultivated, and considered an important article for the food of 

 man ; also in China and in the West Indies. It yields fine white 

 flower ; in Arabia is called Durra or Dora. The generic name 

 is said to be derived from the Indian name of the plant. Its tops 

 are used also for brooms. Loudon. 



