22 
raPERTAL COLLEGE OE 
IV. Millet Hay ( Panicum frumenta- 
ceum) (Hiye). 
Of the three kinds of millet, Pancium frumentaceum, 
italicum and. miliaceum which are frequently cultivated for 
grain in this country, only the former species is sometimes 
cured as hay and is cut for this purpose when the seeds are 
milk-ripe. With regard to graminæ in general this stage of 
growth is somewhat too late to obtain good fodders ; but 
as millet differs in many respects from those cereals and 
grasses, which have already been subjected to digestion 
trials in various stages of growth, it cannot be said a priori 
« 
that the above rule is also valid for this plant. 
We have made at first two trials with millet cured at 
the period under discussion. One of them was carried out 
by Mr. 11. Ibara in the winter of 1882/83 with hay that 
had been got in well; the other, examined by Mr. M. 
Matsuoka in December 1883, had got several strong rains 
while curing in the field. It is peculiar that in each of the 
two years one of the two sheep employed in the experiment 
got diarrhoea after feeding them on millet hay for several 
days, and left so considerable remainders in the rack that 
the trials had to be carried on with the other animal only. 
The animals, rams of the Merino breed, received a 
daily ration of 1 Kilogram of hay and 6 Grams of common 
salt. In 1882 a small amount of the food was left uneaten 
which was collected and analyzed. The quantity of fæces 
and water drunk was as follows (in Grams):— 
