1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
187 
Culture of Millet. 
.Although Millet has been cultivated to a small ex¬ 
tent in various parts of the country for twenty or thir¬ 
ty years or more, and favorable reports of it as a for¬ 
age crop been almost every year published, it is still 
but little known, and is not, there is good reason to be¬ 
lieve, as highly appreciated as it deserves to be. Its 
recent introduction and successful culture at the west, 
howevor, has served to awaken renewed attention to it, 
and as many will this year probably give it a trial, a 
few remarks on its culture may be particularly useful 
at this time. 
The Selection and Preparation of the Soil.— 
The soil which seems generally to be preferred by those 
who have cultivated millet, is one that is warm, sandy 
and rich, though it is said that any soil that would pro¬ 
duce a good crop of wheat or Indian corn, would pro¬ 
duce a good crop of millet. To get rid of weeds, a 
piece of ground that has been well hoed for corn or po¬ 
tatoes the year before, would be especially suitable ; 
or the land designed for millet might be plowed when 
plowing for oats, barley or any early crop, and then 
again just before sowing. Weeds sometimes get the 
start of millet, as it usually comes up slow and fine. 
Whatever the soil may be, it should be well pulver¬ 
ized, as, indeed, the seed bed of all small sized seeds, 
and of such as vegetate slowly at first, should be one 
of fine tilth. The seed should be covered lightly, and 
rolling will make it catch more certainly. 
Quantity of Seed and Time of Sowing. —When 
fodder is the principal object, as it generally is, the 
quantity of seed most approved seems to be from 12 
to 16 quarts, though as high as 40, and as low as 4 
quarts have found favor with some. On a patch in¬ 
tended for seed, 8 quarts or less would be sufficient. 
As millet is ready for harvesting in about ten weeks 
from the time of sowing, if it start early, there is no 
propriety in sowing until the ground and weather are 
both quite warm. It grows very slowly in cool weather, 
so that weeds are apt to get the start of it. From the 
first to the middle of June is early enough. In the 
Cultivator and Co. Gent, of last year, it is stated that 
a piece sowed on the 18th of June was harvested on 
the 24th of Aug.; and that another piece sowed on the 
1st July, was harvested on the 10th of Sept. The sow¬ 
ing and harvesting of this crop can thus be made to 
come at seasons when other operations on the farm are 
not very pressing. This is one of its recommendations. 
Harvesting, Yield, &c. —When designed for hay, 
millet should be cut while in the milk, or when the 
seeds are doughy. If allowed to stand any longer there 
will be loss in three ways, viz., from shedding the seed, 
from birds picking at the heads, and from the straw 
becoming more woody and less nutritious, and less 
palatable. It should not be cradled and bound into 
sheaves, save that portion that may be designed for 
seed; but should be cured very much as clover, that 
is, mainly in small cocks. After sweating in these a 
day or two or more, according to the weather and other 
circumstances, it should be turned out to air and dry 
off, and then be put up again in larger cocks. These 
may be required to be opened if there is any moisture 
from sweating and other causes; and care must be 
taken to have the hay thoroughly cured before it is 
stacked or mowed away in barn, as it is somewhat dif¬ 
ficult to cure, and has not unfrequently been injured 
by mouldiness from being put up too early. From the 
lateness in the season when it must be made into hay, 
and from the length of time required to cure it thorough¬ 
ly , hay caps may often become quite serviceable in the 
process. 
The yield varies from about two tons per acre to 
about four. Mr. A. Y. Moore of Mich., has had Four 
tons per acre, and D. C. of Waltham, Mass., reports 
that he raised three tons per acre, while the grass lands 
of Mass, do not yield, on an average, over one ton of hay 
per acre. T. B. Shepard of Buffalo, raised in 1851, 
more fodder from four acres in millet, than from any 
eight acres in grass. 
Value, Uses, &c. —Almost all who have recorded 
their experience with millet, as a forage crop, agree 
with Mr. A Y. Moore, who says that his stock 'prefer 
it to all other hay. 
Some have used it cut green for soiling, and have 
spoken of it as better for this purpose than corn so used. 
Some milk-producers have used it in the green state, 
and have spoken well of it. 
One recommendation of millet-hay is, that it fur¬ 
nishes variety ; and that variety in food for our do¬ 
mestic animals is gratifying and beneficial might be 
easily made apparent both from the facts of observa¬ 
tion, and from theoretical considerations. 
Another recommendation of this crop is that it can 
be sowed and harvested at a time when other work is 
not pressingly urgent. 
Its greatest recommendation, however, as a forage 
crop, is that it furnishes a large quantity and a good 
quality of food for stock. If hay should be scarce, or 
it were desirable to keep an extra quantity of stock, a 
crop of millet would supply the means, and prove one 
of the best substitutes for hay. 
As millet is rarely raised for the purpose of feeding 
out its seeds as grain, we would merely say that the 
seeds which shell out when the hay is handled, should 
be saved, and ground alone or with other grain. For 
farther remarks upon the value and uses of the grain 
we would refer the reader to last vol. of the Co. Gent., 
p. 192, or Cultivator, page 322. 
Rotation for a Clayey Farm. 
“ What is the best system of culture and cropping 
for improving a clayey soil 7” asks a farmer whose lot 
is cast in what was once an almost interminable swamp, 
but which the “ clearing of the country ” has brought 
into partial culture. “ I can find nothing definite on 
the subject, though I have searched many volumes of 
the various agricultural publications of the last dozen 
years. There are hints, but nothing taking up the 
question as I state it.” 
We find this to be very near the case, so far as 
American agricultural literature is concerned. Wren 
HosKYiNhas written his “ Chronicles of a Clay Farm ” 
in Great Britain, and gives us his panacea for the ills 
of clay, but its application is thought to require too 
much, both of capital and labor, for general use in this 
country. But wherein differs clayey from other soils 7 
Let us look at it. 
What are the evils of clayey soils 7 They are hard 
when dry, instead of being open and porous. When 
wet, they retain moisture a long time—they lack, in 
one word, natural drainage —the surplus moisture can 
not freely pass down through the under soil. This 
