PASPALUM SCROBICULATUM. 



9 



It is as a rule sown at the commencement of tlie rains, at the rate of from 12 to 20 

 lbs. to the acre, and is cut in October. In Oudh it is reported to be occasionally sown 

 on dry soil before the monsoon commences, and to germinate when the rains break. In 

 the districts where its cultivation is most extensive it is generally grown alone; in the 

 Doab it is often mixed with cotton, and in the Benares Division with arhar. It is never 

 succeeded by a spring crop, since it as a rule ripens too late to be off the ground in time. 

 The soil on which it is grown is also generally too poor to bear two crops within the 

 year, and kodon is said to be an exhausting crop. 



Careful weeding is needed to secure a good outturn, which is estimated at from 10 

 to 12 maunds of grain to the acre, but a large proportion of this weight consists of 

 chaff, for the husk of kodon is especially thick and heavy. The grain is separated with 

 great difficulty. The plants are allowed to lie for a week or so after being reaped, in 

 order to loosen the grain, which is even then not thrashed out without a good deal of 

 trouble. The grain is husked by being ground in earthen mills (Allahabad;. 



Kodon suffers considerably from the attacks of insects, but is said to be protected 

 from the ravages of birds by the fact that its ear is partially concealed in the leaf 

 sheath, as is the case with the coarse varieties of rice. 



A curious fact connected with the grain is its liability to produce a sort of intoxi- 

 cation, which is vouched for by many authorities. The Settlement Officer of Azam- 

 garh writes that instances of intoxication caused by kodon imported from the trans- 

 Gogra Districts (Basti and Gorakhpur) are known to the people, but that no such effect 

 have been noticed from grain locally produced. The reason for the intoxicating effect 

 of Kodon grain under certain circumstances may perhaps lie in the fermentation which 

 is undoubtedly brought about in order to loosen the husk and make it more easily 

 removeable. 



Explanation of Plate XXVII. 



1. Spike, outer side. | 2. Ditto, inner side, showing the flattened rachis. 



Drawn from a living specimen gathered at Saharaupur. 



O 



