THE DIGESTIBILITY OP MILLETS. 9 
A small quantity of decorticated millet was tested as to culinary 
quality, and when boiled the mush was found to be of pleasing 
flavor. The available quantity was not sufficient for a study of its 
digestibility. 
In discussing the results of experiments with man too much weight 
should not be given to those obtained with ruminants, but it is not 
without interest to note that the millet proteins are not as well uti- 
lized by the animal body as the proteins of the more common cereals, 
as indicated by the experiment of Shepard and Koch. 1 Sheep were 
fed unground grains in connection with a roughage, and it was found 
that of two varieties of millets the protein was 70 per cent and 55 
per cent utilized, while in the case of oats 77 per cent and of corn 
78 per cent was utilized by the same sheep under like experimental 
conditions. 
As regards the carbohydrates of millet and proso, it was found in 
the experiments here reported that this constituent was as well 
utilized by the subjects as in the case of the more common cereals, the 
coefficients of digestibility being 95.7 per cent for millet and 96.2 per 
cent for proso. 
In general, therefore, it seems fair to conclude from the data re- 
ported that while the millets would contribute somewhat to the protein 
of the diet, they would be decidedly more important as a source of 
carbohydrates than of protein. In this they resemble such grains as 
the sorghums more closely than they do wheat or rye, which are 
important sources of both protein and carbohydrates. 
1 South Dakota Sta. Bui. 114 (1909), p. 553. Digestion coefficients of grains and 
fodders for South Dakota. 
