MILLETS.
The millets are cultivated varie ties of certain small-seeded cereal and forage grasses, which, in a strict sense, belong to the genus Panieum, or to closely allied genera. Because of a resemblance in the seed the name is also applied to other grasses of different genera in this country, while in Europe and Asia even the sorghums are classed as millets.
The millets are among the most ancient of food grains. There is historical evidence of their cultivation in China since 2800 B.C.
They are still of the greatest importance in oriental countries, both as food grains and forage plants. In India the annual acreage for all millets (including sorghums) is com parable with that of wheat in the United States. The prosos predominate in India, while in Japan the foxtail millets are the most com mon. In these countries and in China an enor mous amount of seed is used annually for human food. For many years the proso millets have constituted one of the important crops of Russia, and at present the annual production, over eighty million bushels, is probably greater than in any other country.
In this country millet is generally grown as a supplementary or catch-crop. It is also found to be valuable in certain kinds of rotations. It is profit ably employed in the case of a failure of some other crop, such as corn, or may be substituted for corn where the latter crop is not adapted. Millet may often be grown in place of a summer fallow, giving extra returns without materially lessening the chances for the following crop. It is also ex cellent for restoring to a good condition land that is foul with weeds.
Groups and varieties of millet.
Of the millets that are fairly well known in this country there are three principal groups : the fox tail millets (C?ustochloa Italica and var. Germanica), the barnyard millets (Panicunt Grua-gall°, and the prosos (Panicum miliateum).
The seeds of these millets are closely compacted into a club head, varying much in size, and either cylindrical or tapering at one or both ends. Ac
cording to the most common classification, there are two principal sub-groups of the foxtail millets, separated chiefly on the basis of the size of head, and which may be called the large or common millets, and the small or Hungarian millets. To the sub-group having the large heads belong the common (Fig. 694), the German (Fig. 695), the Aino (Fig. 696) and the Golden Wonder millets. The type of the second sub-group is the Hungarian millet (Fig. 698). In each of these sub-groups there is great variation in the length and color of the beards and color of the seed, and on the basis of these variations the further classification into varieties is made.
The seed of both the German and common millets is yellow, but that of the former is slightly the E smaller, while the head of the German is much the larger. Both varieties are bearded, the beards often turning dark brown or purple in color. The Golden Wonder, a variety much advertised, has a head still larger than that of the German and is almost beardless. The seed is small and yellow. Our common millet is not the common one in Europe, although what is known on that continent as California millet is this variety.
The name Japanese has often been applied to a form of f ixtail millet that is usually considered identical with the German. On careful study the writer is forced to conclude that this is rather dis tinct and he has given it the name of Gino The name Japanese is very confusing, as it is applied to various groups of millets. This variety is to purple-brown, may possess strong beards or none, and there is much variation in habit of growth of the entire plant. These variations make the development of different varieties a compara grown by the winos, a prehistoric race of Japan.
The spikes are , longer and more open in proportion to thickness than in the German millet.
It is not well known in the United States, but may prove to be important.