174 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
JtTNE. 
Hungarian Grass Seed. 
Messrs. Tucker & Son —I regret to see you per¬ 
sist that the Hungarian grass seed is no new thing, and 
that Mr. Thorburn of Albany, has it for sale at S3 per 
bushel. I have received the genuine seed from vari¬ 
ous sources in Iowa and Illinois, in different parcels, 
and it has been uniformly the same in shape, size and 
color. I have also received a sample of what Mr. 
Thorburn sells for Hungarian grass seed,* and find it 
to be an entirely different variety of grass seed from 
my western supply. Mr. Thorburn’s is of a lighter color, 
rounder and larger, like millet seed, and that I get from 
’Iowa and Illinois is of an oblong shape. Will you please 
to state the evidence you possess, going to show that Mr. 
Thorburn has the genuine seed at $3 per bushel. I can¬ 
not procure it from the west at less than about $7 per 
bushel, including express charges, and if it can be 
bought in Albany for S3, while I sell it rapidly at $10 
per bushel, it is time th’e public should know it, in 
order that they may purchase it at the lesser rate, as 
I have no desire to obtain anything above a fair price 
for the genuine seed. It is evident that either you or 
I are deceiving the public through our respective jour¬ 
nals, and lam desirous of testing the discrepancy of 
accounts, so that the public may hereafter know what 
to depend on. T. B. Miner, Ed. Rural American. 
Clinton , N. Y. 
We do not intend to “deceive the public,” nor do 
we suppose Mr. Miner does, although he states that he 
is selling the Hungarian Grass Seed “ rapidly at $10 
per bushel,” while the same seed from Iowa is selling 
at Chicago, according to Emery’s Journal of Agricul¬ 
ture of April 22, at “ $2 to $3 per bushel/’ and 
Messrs. Pease & Eggleston of this city, whose seed 
we know to be the genuine Hungarian from Iowa, ad¬ 
vertise it at $3.25 per bushel. But to the matter in 
hand. 
There are three species of what are called “common 
millet,” figures of which, copied from Loudon, are an¬ 
nexed. 
In the above, b represents what is known as Pani- 
cum miliaceum —a variety which we have never met 
with, but which we are told is grown in some places in 
this country. 
The Italian millet, Setaria italica, (c) was many 
years ago grown in gardens,under the name of “ wreath 
grass,” the heads having somewhat the appearance of 
* This is a mistake. Mr. Thorburn does not sell it as 
Hungarian grass seed, but simply as “ Millet seed.”— Eds. 
Co. Gent 
wreaths, and were used in floral and rustic ornaments. 
It has also sometimes, we believe, been grown as a field 
crop for its seed and for hay. 
The German millet, Setaria germanica , (a.)—some¬ 
times called Panicum germanicum —ia the one more 
generally known in this country for 
30 or more years past. Of this speciea 
there are 3 varieties, varying mainly 
in the color of the seed—the yellow, 
white and purple grained. This is 
the species with which we consider 
the Hungarian Grass of Iowa , af¬ 
ter a careful examination, to be 
identical. To convince others that 
such is the fact, we have had a head 
of the Hungarian Grass, a small 
bundle of which we received from 
Iowa last autumn, drawn and en¬ 
graved, (Fig. 4 ) No one can com¬ 
pare this with the reduced figure of 
the German millet, copied above 
from Loudon, without at once being 
convinced that the plants are the same. 
To ascertain whether our views were correct, we en¬ 
closed some of the heads of the Hungarian grass re¬ 
ceived from Iowa, to Sanford Howard, Esq., editor of 
the Boston Cultivator, than whom we know of no man 
better qualified to give an opinion on the subject. We 
annex an extract from his reply, from which it will be 
seen that Mr. H. raised the Hungarian grass from Iowa 
seed last year, and consequently has had a most favor¬ 
able opportunity of comparing it with the German mil¬ 
let. He says:— 
“ I had seed of the “ Hungarian grass” from Iowa 
last spring, from which I raised plants, and I also re¬ 
ceived from Mr. Wilson, of the Iowa Farmer, a bun¬ 
dle of the grass. Therefore I know it is the same 
thing, ^German millet,] which has been more or less 
cultivated here for upwards of thirty years, and pro¬ 
bably from the first settlement of the country. 
“ The heads which you send are small, probably from 
the crop to which they belonged standing thickly on 
the ground. It was so with the bundle sent me by Mr. 
Wilson. But I raised some much larger. Where it 
has plenty of room, the head attains much more size. 
It was from a head produced under such circum¬ 
stances, that the figure given by Mr. Flint in his work 
on Grasses, was drawn. I think he told me it was from 
seed sent out by the Patent Office as Hungarian mil¬ 
let. At any rate, I have compared some of the same 
kind with that produced from the Iowa seed, and they 
are the same. 
“ The chief difference in the varieties of German 
millet is in the color of the seed—some being white, 
some yellow, and some purple. They will all mix as 
readily as varieties of Indian corn. In the specimen 
you sent there are some purple seeds, and it is so with 
all I have ever seen from Iowa, showing that there is 
a mixture of kinds ” 
-♦-«--»- 
How to Improve Soggy Potatoes. 
At this season of the year potatoes are very liable 
be moist and soggy after boiling, and many a good din¬ 
ner will be spoiled on account of the bad potatoes. A 
simple remedy for this is the following :—After the po¬ 
tatoes are sufficiently boiled, and the skins taken off, 
place them in a dry cloth, and express the moisture by 
a slight wringing; they will then appear mealy, and 
taste as well as the best Hibernians.— Sci. American 
