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Common all over Northern India in cultivated and uncultivated ground. 

 It is considered to be a good fodder grass both for grazing and as hay- 

 Various reports however indicate its injurious effects on cattle if eaten 

 when too young, or when the plants are stunted by drought. The 

 same results have been observed to take place in the case of juar (Sor- 

 ghum vulgare). Dr. Stewart was told in Hazara that cattle, after eating 

 it, are often attacked by fatal head affections. In Gujranwala, Gujrat 

 and Shahpur districts it is said to be poisonous until the rains are 

 over, when cattle eat it with impunity. Tod, in his " Rajasthan," 

 Vol. ii., p. 170, mentions that the seed of this grass is collected, and 

 mixed with bajra flour is eaten by the poorer classes in Bikanir. In 

 Australia it is valued both for pasturage and hay, and is much sought 

 after by cattle. Native pens are made from the stems of this plant. 

 No allusion is made regarding the injurious properties of this grass 

 when young, either in Australia or in the United States. In the latter 

 country, where it is known as " Johnson grass," " Cuba grass," " Mean's 

 grass," and " False Guinea grass," it is highly valued as the following 

 extracts from Dr. Vasey's " Report on the Grasses of the South," pages 

 16 and 17 (1887) will show:— 



" Mr. N. B. Moore has cultivated this grass for 40 years and prefers it to all others, 

 is perennial, is as nutritious as any other, difficult to eradicate, will grow on ordinary 

 soil, and yields abundantly. 



" Horses and cattle are fond of it both in its dry and green condition. Probably 

 no grass gives better promise for the dry arid lands of the West. 



" This grass is best adapted to warm climates, and has proved most valuable on 



warm dry soils in the Southern States Its chief value is for hay, in regions 



where other grasses fail on account of drought. If cut early the hay is of good qua- 

 lity, and several cuttings may be made in the season. 



" In California it is known as ' Evergreen ' or ' Arabian Millet ', It roots deep in 

 the subsoil, and where that is at all alkaline, it grows enormously, but at the same time 

 absorbs so much of the unpalatable alkali that stock will not eat it. It is excellent for 

 dry hills free from alkali." 



S. VTllgare, Pers. Syn. — Holcus Sorghum, Linn., Andropogon Sor- 

 ghum, Brot. Vern. — General : Ju^ chart (sown close for fodder) ; 

 Punjab : Jodr (Stewart), N.-W. Prov. and Oudh : Junri (Western 

 Districts), choti judr and choti junri (Oudh and Benares), oajra-jhupanwa 

 (Azamgarh) ; Bengal : Kasa-jonar (Chutia Nagpur) ; Teling : Janoo, 

 konda and tella (Roxb.) ; S. India : Cholum. 



A tall handsome grass. Stems erect, thick, succulent, often tinged 

 with red or yellowish blotches. Leaf blades broad, narrowing gradually 

 to their tips, smooth except at their junction with the sheath ; midrib 

 prominent beneath, channelled above ; sheaths very long. Flowers in 

 dense ovate panicles ; heads nodding before ripening. Spikelets in 

 pairs, 1-flowered, one sessile and hermaphrodite, the other stalked and 



G 



